Tomorrow Never Came
by RobbieMay
Summary: "What happened to her?" Harry asked. "I don't know." Sirius confessed. "The last time I saw her was the night your parents died. I left her to go and check on them. I told her not to wait up for me, but she always did." Harry discovers that he has a lost Godmother and decides to track her down. But of course there will be a few unexpected bumps along the way if Sirius is involved.
1. Prologue

**Hello there! Long time no see! As I said while I was writing Perfectly Content I had an idea for a sequel mapped out in my head and I've only gone and managed to write (some of) it!**

 **Even though this is the official sequel _it can be read on it's own, you don't have to read Perfectly Content before reading this!_ but if you want to know the back story for how Sirius and Ren (my OC) first got together then knock yourself out my lovelies and give PC a read.**

 **Now as was the case with PC this story will completely un-BETA'd(?) so if there are any issues with spelling or grammar I apologize. Also I only own the OC's, all that jazz.**

 **Other than that I hope you enjoy the Prologue and I'll see you on the other side!**

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Prologue_

 _Saturday 31_ _st_ _October 1981  
_ _10:37pm_

A sudden clap of thunder echoed through the stormy night, jolting an already restless Sirius Black awake from his unsettling dream.

The raven-haired twenty one year old found himself instantly trying to recall the vivid scenes which had left him with a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, but it was no use. The dream had already slipped through his fingers.

His misty grey eyes darted around the familiar room until they landed on the sleeping figure who lay in the bed beside him. _'Good. She's still asleep.'_ Sirius thought to himself, relieved that the brewing storm hadn't awoken his girlfriend. Ren had been having enough trouble sleeping recently and she needed all the rest she could get. Without drawing his eyes from her, Sirius ran his fingers through his long, inky locks before letting out a bitter sigh.

It had been three weeks since Ren had lost their baby, and Sirius didn't think he had ever felt so many emotions pass through him all at once in such a short period of time. He felt grief for the baby that he and Ren would never get to meet. Guilt for not being able to protect his girlfriend. Relief that her injuries, while still tragic, were not as severe as the Healer at St Mungos said they could have been. But most of Sirius felt angry. Angry that something as horrible and soul destroying as this had happened to them. Angry that he hadn't been there. Angry that despite being within constant danger due to the bloody war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, it was a pathetic, worthless, Muggle nobody that had broken into their home and attacked Ren.

Sirius had been working a late shift at the Cleansweep Factory, wanting to earn some extra cash, and an hour before he was due to finish Remus' silver wolf Patronus had appeared before him and told him that someone had broken into their house and that Ren had been pushed down the stairs, which resulted in her losing the child from the impact.

It was heart-breaking. It was traumatic. But it was done. There wasn't anything that could be done to change what had happened (as much as Sirius wished beyond belief that there was, if only to stop Rens pain) and through the support of their family and friends Sirius knew they would get through it eventually.

Remus, Peter, James and Lily had all been amazing in comforting both him and Ren since the incident, but Sirius knew that Ren was sometimes finding it hard to be around them. She could see the pity in their eyes just as clearly as Sirius could and she couldn't stand it. She hated being tiptoed around. She hated being the victim, but everyone understood she was in a lot of pain. They could all see it whenever she saw baby Harry. The look of both loss and longing in her eyes. Sirius felt it too but he was determined not to distance himself from his Godson just to ease his own pain, and Sirius knew that Ren was too. He could tell that James and Lily were grateful for that.

The Potters.

In a flash of remembrance Sirius's mind flashed back to his dream. He didn't know how but he had a sinking feeling that the unsettling sense of alarm that he still hadn't managed to shake off had something to do with his best friends.

Sirius glanced at the alarm clock that sat atop the oaken bedside cabinet and the luminous red digits told him that it just after ten thirty. James would still be up. Nowadays his bespectacled best friend had as much trouble sleeping as he did, and besides it would hardly be the first unscheduled late night visit Sirius had paid the Potters.

Gently, so as not to wake the sleeping brunette beside him, he shrugged off the covers and slipped out of bed. However his caution was apparently all for naught, because the moment Sirius lifted his weight from the mattress Ren shifted and her deep sable eyes fluttered open. She twisted her head, causing her curls to tumble over her shoulder, and met Sirius' eye.

"You okay?" She asked, her voice gravelly from the sleep she hadn't quite woken up from. Sirius smiled warmly at her.

"Can't sleep," He murmured back. "I was…" Sirius couldn't help but trail off momentarily, taking in her tousled chocolate curls, creamy skin, pouty bow lips and mahogany eyes. Even now she still managed to take his breath away and leave him speechless. "... I was just going to go and see Prongs." He finished when he had managed to get a hold on himself once more. "Go back to sleep." He instructed, but instead of listening to her boyfriend Ren Gallagher slowly rolled over and slipped out of the bed.

"I'll see you out." She told him quietly, padding across the bedroom, pulling open the door and disappearing into the darkness of the landing. Sirius nodded to himself and began to change. He quickly slung on a t-shirt and jeans then followed after Ren. As he descended the stairs he saw that the kitchen light had been turned on so he headed in that direction.

Upon entering the heart of the house Sirius saw Ren, lower back leaning against the stove, waiting for the kettle to boil. Her arms were folded over her chest and her shoulders hunched forward. She glanced up and sent a small, unconvincing smile his way.

"Ren-" Sirius couldn't stop himself from saying, but she cut him off.

"-I'm fine." She insisted with a dismissive shake of her head, and Sirius sighed. There was no sense in arguing with her. Not now.

"Okay." Was all he could say back before pulling on his leather jacket and then retreating into the hallway so that he could put on his boots.

He perched himself on the bottom of the stairs and proceeded to lace up the battered old boots. As he did so he heard Ren approach him, her steps muffled by the long runner rug that covered the floorboards, but he didn't look up until her bare feet appeared beside his booted ones. She was staring down at him, her eyes filled with an apology that Sirius didn't really need. "Go to bed baby." He whispered, to which Ren simply nodded.

She crouched down beside him and pressed her lips to his in a sweet tender kiss which Sirius was all too happy to soak up. He brought a hand up to stroke her cheek softly, and when Ren eventually pulled away Sirius continued to caress her face. "I love you." He told her, staring deep into her eyes. They were glistening with what were most likely tears. Tears that he knew wouldn't fall until she was alone.

"I love you too." She replied, before rising to her feet. Sirius followed her lead and stood up, moving past her and approaching the front door.

"I'll be back in an hour or so. Promise me you won't wait up?" He requested, and Ren nodded.

"Okay." She said, but they both knew that she would wait for him regardless of the promise. She always did. "Send my love to James." She added as Sirius unlocked the door and pulled it open with a loud creak (he really needed to remember to put some oil on the hinges… or at least silencio it), flooding the hallway with the frigid October air.

"Will do." He said before quickly pecking her lips with his own. He then hurried down the steps to where his bike was parked and climbed aboard. Sirius started the engine and turned back to glance at Ren, who stood leaning against the doorframe. She flashed him a small wave, which he returned. He then turned back and steered the bike away from the curb, beginning to cruise down the road. The low rumble of the engine filled the otherwise silent street, and as he drove Sirius could feel Ren's gaze following him but he didn't look back. He would be back in her arms in just a few short hours.

He didn't need to worry.

 **Hope you enjoyed the first taste of the fic! I have a good few chapters already written and ready to go and I'm hoping I'll be able to churn out the rest of the story more regularly, however I am starting university in** **September so chances are this may take a back seat every now and again.**

 **Please please leave me a review letting me know if you liked it, although please no unnecessary flames. If you don't like it then I'm sorry but I don't need to know. I was so bloody excited/terrified to start posting this and I'd just love to know if you think the work put in was worth it!**

 **I will update again next week. The rest of the fic will be set after the second war with the odd flashback thrown in, Chapter 1 being in the POV of a certain Boy Who Lived.**

 **Eve x**

 **P.S. Please follow/fave/REVIEW xoxo**


	2. Chapter 1

**I hope you enjoyed the Prolouge! Just wanted to say a massive thank you to those who followed, faved or left a review! It means the world!**

 **Here's Chapter 1 for you guys. It's so weird to write in Harry's POV as it's something that we all experienced when reading the actual HP books, so just a warning it will probably be quite different from J.K's style, haha. Also there are a few changes from canon, namely being that I've kept Remus, Tonks and Fred alive. I just couldn't face writing the fic without them!**

 **Anyway, enjoy! (Sorry for the mistakes, I don't own anything but the OCs, all the usual stuff)**

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 1_

 _Sunday 2_ _nd_ _May 1999  
_ _5:27pm_

Harry Potter glanced at the antique mirror which hung on the wall of his bedroom in Grimmauld Place. Without even thinking he subconsciously tried to flatten his unruly, dark hair but quickly realized that, as always, he was fighting a losing battle, so the eighteen year old lowered his hand and went back to buttoning up his navy-blue shirt.

It had been exactly one year since Harry had defeated Lord Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts and a family dinner at the Burrow had been planned for that evening in order to 'celebrate'. If Harry had had his way he wouldn't have been wearing a shirt, but between Mrs Weasley _insisting_ that an effort was made and his Godfather, Sirius Black, wanting to take everyone out for drinks after they had eaten, Harry had decided that there was no point in arguing.

He let out a sigh. While understanding why people wanted to rejoice the demise of the Dark Lord, Harry just couldn't seem to psych himself up. A weird part of him thought it was still too soon after the Battle. Too soon to move on from the losses. But he knew that the majority of the Wizarding community preferred to focus on the happy fact that Voldemort was gone for good as opposed to the people they had lost. Everybody coped in different ways and that was fine of course, so while Harry may not have been looking forward to the endless toasts that would be made in his name that evening, or the reporters and paparazzi that would have somehow got word of where Harry was going to be that night, he _was_ looking forward to seeing the people that mattered most to him.

So much had happened in the year since the Battle that Harry almost found it hard to believe. Wizarding Britain, which for two years had been living in constant fear of the Dark Lord, found itself free, and there had been so much that needed reconstructing. The main priority had been figuratively rebuilding the Ministry of Magic after it had been released from the clutches of Voldemort. Kingsley Shacklebolt had recently been instated as the new Minister and had been working tirelessly ever since.

Harry's beloved school Hogwarts was also being rebuilt but in a much more literal sense, seeing as it had been where the Battle had taken place. Progress was well underway, in fact it was inching closer to completion every day, and Hermione had already decided that she wanted to return to the school in order to finish her final year and earn her N.E.W.T's once repairs were finished. A small grin played on Harry's face at the thought. Unlike his bushy haired companion, both he and Ron had decided that they wanted to jump straight into Auror training. Despite not having the grades that would have normally been required for the job (or any at all for that matter), the two friends had been accepted onto the course instantly, and they were quickly beginning to adapt to its intense training and schedule.

 _"Hey Harry?"_ Sirius' voice suddenly called from somewhere in the belly of the ancient house. The teenager had to strain his ears so that he could hear him clearly.

"Yeah?" He called back, sauntering over to the open bedroom door so that he had a better chance of hearing what his Godfather wanted.

 _"Can you grab my wand for me? I think I left it by my bed!"_ The voice shouted back, and Harry left out a soft chuckle. Of course Sirius would leave the one item he couldn't simply accio way up on the highest floor of the house.

"Yeah no problem!"

Seeing as he had all but finished getting ready, Harry made his way straight out of his room and hurried over to the grand staircase. He started to climb, and when he reached the topmost floor of Grimmauld Place he pushed open the creaky door that had the nameplate _'Sirius'_ upon it and entered the spacious room.

Harry thought back to the first time he had ever set foot in Sirius' bedroom. It was during the brief time he, Ron and Hermione had spent living in the house at the start of their hunt for Voldemort's Horcruxes. He remembered the letter he had found from his Mother to Sirius, and Harry felt his heart clench. He quickly shook the memories from his mind. Today was meant to be a happy occasion, Harry didn't want his mood to darken even further. No one would have been impressed with him for that. He quickly diverted his thoughts back to his Godfather.

Harry wasn't sure whether Sirius was still celebrating the end of the War or his new-found freedom, but he did know that for the past year his scarred, tattooed Godfather was certainly making the most of having his name cleared. This essentially involved going out partying practically every night and wooing as many women as he possibly could. If he was being honest Harry really couldn't blame Sirius for trying to have some fun. After spending twelve years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit and then another four forced into hiding, Harry thought that Sirius deserved to be able to let his hair down and go wild.

However, as a hilarious result of this, Sirius' newly cleared name (or his other title of _'the Wizarding World's newest eligible bachelor'_ as he was also commonly referred to) had been cropping up more and more in various newspapers and magazines, particularly Witch Weekly, much to everyone's amusement.

Sirius, being the peacock that he was, was very much enjoying the attention and the perks it was providing. As well as dramatically improving his sex life, Sirius had also been presented with several impressive career opportunities. One of them, for example, was an advertisement campaign with the fragrance company _Scentric_ which resulted in him being the face of their new cologne 'Solar'. This was how Sirius' mug had originally become plastered throughout nearly every girly Witch magazine in England.

Harry remembered when Sirius had first shared the news that he was 'becoming a hot new model' with Harry and Remus over breakfast one morning. Harry had been sure that Sirius was joking, while Remus had, in pure shock, burst out laughing and spat tea all over Sirius, who had been sitting opposite him with the Werewolf's young son Teddy perched on his lap. "Well it will make a refreshing change from the Azkaban's Most Wanted posters." Remus had laughed afterwards while he was wiping a sulking Teddy's tea soaked face down with a wet wipe.

However more impressively than the cologne campaign ("If you can believe it." Sirius would say) he had also managed to land a job as a prime time Quidditch Commentator! At first the International Quidditch Association seemed to have offered Sirius the job because his name was everywhere and, due to his frequent appearance at multiple Quidditch matches, he seemed to have a keen interest in the sport. But after his first few jobs, the I.Q.A soon realised that Sirius seemed to have a natural gift for commentating and he had shot to fame after being promoted to cover every Quidditch match of importance in the United Kingdom, alongside the legendary Quidditch Announcer Eric O'Byrne.

To say Sirius had been star struck was an understatement. Before moving into the world of commentating, Eric had been a Chaser for Sirius' favourite team the Appleby Arrows. He had been known for his slick, unpredictable moves and overall cool, collected style, and according to Remus, when the Quidditch star had announced his retirement from the game in 1977, during the Marauders sixth year at Hogwarts, Sirius had sulked for two weeks straight.

Now in May of 1999, Sirius Black, the national celebrity playboy, seemed to be living the dream. However as Harry cast a glance around Sirius' bedroom he couldn't help but think it hardly screamed 'playboy' to him. It still looked like the bedroom of a rebellious teenager who wanted to piss his parents off. The Boy Who Lived shook his head in amusement. Some things never changed.

Getting back to the matter at hand, Harry assumed that Sirius' wand would likely be around his bed somewhere because besides sleeping or... 'entertaining', Sirius rarely spent any time in his bedroom.

He started picking his way through the room towards the large, unmade bed, keeping an eye out for the resin wand as he did so. However as Harry reached the bed stand something caught his eye… something that looked oddly out of place sat on top of the bedside cabinet.

An old, battered looking shoebox.

Now normally Harry wouldn't have thought twice about it. Plenty of people kept the shoebox in which a pair of shoes came in so that they stayed in good knick, but this box looked to be about as old as Harry himself, and rather embarrassingly the raven-haired teenager knew for a fact that Sirius hadn't bought any shoes recently, brand new or vintage. This was down to the fact that Sirius had an interesting habit of showing off his purchases after a shopping spree, essentially putting on a fashion show for whichever unfortunate sod happened to be in Grimmauld Place at the time ("What do you expect? I _am_ a top model after all." The Animagus would shrug nonchalantly whenever questioned about it.)

So that's why Harry couldn't resist having a peek in the mystery box.

He tentatively picked it up (years of friendship with Hagrid subconsciously playing on his mind) and felt the contents rattle and roll around ever so slightly. Definitely not shoes. Harry perched himself on the edge of Sirius' bed as he pulled the cardboard lid away from the box and peered inside.

He found himself staring down at a mixture of various knickknacks and photographs. Harry gently started fingering through the items and found himself drawn to the collection of polaroid and Wizarding photographs, always excited to see a glimpse of his parents and Sirius' past.

The first dogeared, weathered polaroid was of a handsome young Sirius, Harry recognised him instantly. He couldn't have been older than seventeen or eighteen. But he was not alone. Upon a dark patch of grass Sirius was reclined on his back, a lit cigarette between his fingers which burnt brightly in the evening air, and beside him lay a girl. Harry stared hard at the photograph, trying to gage who she was. She was very pretty. Her deep set, chocolate eyes were sparkling up at the camera. Her skin clear and smooth looking. Lips full and tugged up at the corners as she smiled softly. A maine of dark curls were spread out beneath her, just as volumous (but maybe a little tidier) than Hermiones. She was the one holding the camera, pointing it downwards to them.

Who was this girl? Was she a friend of Sirius'? If she was, did she know Harry's parents? Did they go to Hogwarts together? Where was she now?

Harry flipped over the photograph, hoping to find a scrap of information wrote on the back of it that would give him a clue as to who the girl was. Sure enough a small piece of text had been scribbled in the top left hand corner. _'First photograph, 1977'_ was all it read in thin, italic handwriting that Harry didn't recognise. That didn't really help him.

Harry carefully placed the photo down and picked up another one. He couldn't help but smile to himself as soon as he began to study the Wizarding photo. It once again featured a young Sirius and the mystery girl, but a gangly teenager that Harry could instantly tell was none other than Remus Lupin also accompanied them.

The three of them, dressed in dated Hogwarts uniforms, were sat cross-legged on a patch of grass. To the left of Sirius Harry could make out half of another person that had been cropped out of the frame, but from the messy black hair alone Harry could have guessed that it was his father.

Behind them was a mass of water that looked very much like it could be the Great Lake at Hogwarts, the sun reflecting and glistening off the surface. The three teenagers were laughing into the camera, obviously in the middle of an infectious joke. Turning the photo over Harry saw that the words _'Finally finished our N.E.W.T's! 1978'_ were etched onto the back of it. So this girl had gone to Hogwarts with the Marauders. It looked like she was also wearing a Gryffindor uniform.

Placing the photograph back into the box, Harry then moved onto the next Wizarding photo and he couldn't help inhale deeply at the first glance. Mystery Girl was sitting in the center of a large bed, clutching a thin white sheet to her nude chest. She was staring directly into the camera, laughing and smiling and even giving Harry a cheeky wink before bursting back into giggles once more. The rooms pale blue walls and the fluttering white curtains that hung over a nearby window made the whole scene look almost… heavenly.

Harry felt like he was intruding on a private moment as he eyeballed the picture. The girl, whoever she was, really was beautiful. Her smile was bright and looked like it could light up a room, and despite not being able to hear her, Harry would have bet that her laughter was akin to pure, unadulterated joy.

Unlike the previous two photographs this one didn't have anything written on the back of it, no indication of where or when the picture was taken. Putting it down with the others Harry then reached for the final polaroid, and upon the first glance he felt his heart skip a beat.

As well as the mystery brunette, who Harry had expected to see, he was also staring down at a radiant Lily Potter and a chubby little infant who, from the tufts of black hair and big emerald eyes, Harry guessed was himself.

The two women were standing in a cosy looking kitchen, both leaning against a worktop opposite one another. The tall brunette held the giggling baby in her arms, his tiny fists clutched tightly around her curls as she smiled down at him in adoration, completely ignoring any pain that he might have been causing from yanking on her hair, while the petite redhead (Harry hadn't realised that his Mother was that short before) watched the interaction with the utmost fondness in her amiable green eyes, a cup of tea grasped between her hands.

Harry stared. This woman hadn't just been a part of Sirius' and his parents lives… she had been a part of _his_ life as well! He tentatively turned the photograph over. _'Our little Prongs 2.0. Definitely better than the original. 1981'_ it read. The teenager had come to assume that the handwriting belonged to the brunette in the photographs, and this polaroid showed that she had evidently cared for Harry very much. Why hadn't Sirius, or even Remus for that matter, ever mentioned her before?

Harry put the final photograph down with the others and peered back into the shoebox, both nervous and excited to see what other remnants of the past were hidden inside. He saw four more objects. First, Harry picked up a black silken handkerchief that had the initials _'S.B'_ stitched neatly into one of the corners. Harry figured he was correct in assuming that this belonged to his Godfather, but what could be so important about a plain old handkerchief that Sirius would keep it locked away?

Next Harry picked up a weathered piece of yellowing parchment that had been folded into four. He gingerly began to unfold it, hoping for it to be a letter or something that would give him a bit more insight as to who the mystery girl was, or her name at the very least. He was surprised, however, when he found himself looking down at a detailed pencil sketch of a huge black dog that he instantly knew as Sirius in his Animagus form. He was fascinated by the attention to detail in the drawing. From each individual hair to the sparkling mischief in the dog's eyes, Harry could see that a lot of effort had been put into it. A small signature of _'R.G'_ had been signed in the bottom right had corner.

Impressed, Harry refolded the drawing before picking up a silver zippo lighter. It had an engravement which read _'Merry Christmas Sirius. Love Ren x'_ on the side of it.

Ren.

That was her name. Harry couldn't help but think it suited her, even though he didn't know her. He wanted to find out more.

Moving onto the final item, Harry felt his eyes widen in shock. A small, round box made of crimson velvet sat before him. He felt confident he knew what sat inside. He picked it up, opened it and there, poking out of a plush bed of white satin, was an engagement ring. Beautifully crafted, Harry studied the stunningly intricate vintage details, admiring the prominent pear-shaped, yellow diamond and the glistening additional stones that were set into the silver band. It was an impressive piece of craftsmanship that was for sure. Breathtaking, almost.

As he stared Harry felt a few more pieces of the puzzle slot into place. It was obvious that this ring had been meant for Ren, and that Sirius had been the one intending to give it to her.

Harry had never known Sirius to be in a proper relationship, either before or after his stint in Azkaban, let alone one serious enough for the Animagus to have an engagement ring. Why hadn't this ring made it to the girl? Had they separated before Sirius could ask? Or, like many other loved ones, had Ren been killed in the war? Harry didn't know.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long." A voice suddenly said from behind him, and Harry was so startled he nearly jumped out of his skin. He shot to his feet, shoving the ring back into the shoebox with all of the other trinkets before spinning around to see the owner of the box himself, Sirius Black, standing in the open doorway, arms crossed over his chest and his gaze calm. He didn't appear to be mad that Harry had gone through his things, and the boy was relieved by that.

"Sirius, I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" He began to stutter, but Sirius cut him off.

"-Harry it's fine." He started as he strolled into the room. "I left the box lying around so I can't exactly be angry can I?" He went on to ask.

The tattooed Marauder was obviously ready to leave for the Burrow. He was kitted out in a white fitted shirt, cuffs rolled up to his elbows, and dark jeans, managing to look as effortlessly suave as ever. But when Sirius reached Harry and sat himself down on the bed, gently picking up the box, it was obvious he wasn't in a hurry to leave. Harry saw it as a que to join him, so he tentatively perched himself next to Sirius on the bed.

He didn't know what to say. Should he say anything at all? Broaching the subject of his Godfather's lost love was a tricky one that was for sure.

Sirius had the photographs in his hands and was flicking through them slowly, and Harry took the opportunity to study his face as he did so. The thirty nine year old had been through so much since the photos had been taken but he still had a surprisingly youthful exterior. Harry could see that he had grown from the boyishly handsome young adult in the photos to the striking, chiselled man that currently sat beside him. He could understand why women seemed to fall at Sirius' feet. His face was manly, his jaw strong. The faint lines of age seemed to suit him perfectly and gave him a distinguished air, yet there was a softness to his silver eyes and a gentleness to his smile which seemed to entice anything and everything.

He was tall and had (since putting back on a significant amount of weight in the past few years) broad shoulders which also worked in his favour. Sirius' thick dark hair now had a few streaks of silver running through it and it fell to just below his shoulders. All in all everything just seemed to work for Sirius. Harry put it down to his aristocratic Wizarding blood.

"What happened to her?" He finally managed to pluck up the courage to ask. For a moment Harry thought that Sirius hadn't heard him, because his Godfather simply continued to stare at the photograph he had settled on, the one of Ren in the bed. Just as Harry was about to clear his throat in an attempt to catch Sirius' attention, the Animagus let out a long sigh.

"I don't know." He confessed. "The last time I saw her was the night your parents died. I left her to go and check on them. I told her not to wait up for me, but she always did." It was more like Sirius was talking to himself instead of Harry. "But I never made it back to her. When… when I saw what had happened to your parents I- I just saw red and went after Peter."

Harry continued to listen with bated breath. "I should have gone back to her instead. I should have made sure she was safe." He felt his heart breaking for Sirius. The pain in his voice, the cracking of despair, was obvious. "Now I have no idea what happened to her. Whether she's alive or not. If she is she's probably married with a family."

"She might not be." Harry couldn't help but try and dissuade Sirius, however helpless it sounded.

"I couldn't stand it if she was. I know it sounds selfish Harry, but I just couldn't. Not when we nearly had a family of our own." Sirius confessed.

"You… you were going to have a baby?" Harry questioned, to which Sirius nodded.

"She was pregnant but… but she lost it in an accident."

How was is that Harry felt like he was only just getting to know his Godfather? How had he had absolutely no idea about this part of Sirius' life? "She would have been the best mum." Sirius said. "She just had this natural knack with kids. Babies especially. You loved her." He added, causing Harry to look up at him sharply. "She… she was your Godmother y'know."

Harry felt his jaw drop in surprise, and a small prickle of anger brewed within him for the briefest of moments. Anger that Sirius hadn't told him about the Godmother he never knew he had. But as quickly as it sparked it was extinguished. This was not about him. Sirius hadn't kept this from Harry with the intention to hurt him. He hadn't told his Godson because, if the pained expression on Sirius' face was anything to go by, it hurt _him_ too much to talk about it.

Not knowing what had happened to the woman he had wanted to spend his life with had clearly left a part of Sirius feeling empty and incomplete. "I did want to tell you about her Harry, I really did, I just… it became easier and easier to pretend she hadn't ever existed." The Marauder said, running a tattooed hand through his hair.

"It's okay Sirius," Harry quickly interjected before Sirius could even think of apologizing. "Honestly I…" He began, but Harry couldn't help but lapse into silence as his mind flashed to Ginny. "I can't imagine what it's like Sirius, I really can't, but I'm sorry that you've lived with this on top of everything else." He managed to finish, and it was true. How was it that so much misfortune could befall just one man? And a good man at that.

Sirius wasn't looking at the photographs anymore, nor was he looking at Harry. He was staring blankly straight ahead at the window. The early evening light had caught his face and was playing across his structured features. He remained silent for a time until he eventually let out a deep sigh.

"Come on we need to get going or Molly will hex us seven ways from Sunday." He said matter-of-factly. Harry was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden change in subject, but the tone of Sirius' voice indicated that he was very much done with the conversation regarding Ren. He watched as Sirius jumped up from the bed, replaced the photos within the shoebox and quickly shut the lid over the painful memories.

And just like that Sirius' manner changed back to the carefree Casanova as quickly as if someone had flipped a switch within him. He turned back to Harry with a playful grin on his face, grabbing his wand (which had been sat on the bedside cabinet all along) as he did so. "I don't know about you but I'm gasping for a pint." He said, and with that the Marauder sauntered past Harry and out of the room.

Not until he heard Sirius' retreating footsteps begin down the stairs did Harry glance back over to the box that sat next to him. The box that seemingly contained a suppressed part of Sirius' life.

What was he supposed to do now? Just act as if he hadn't suddenly learnt about a long lost Godmother who happened to be the love of Sirius' life? Harry shook his head, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to drop it and move on. In all honesty when had he _ever_ been able to do that?

His first instinct was to tell Ron and Hermione. He himself didn't know how to begin to process this news but Harry felt sure that with the help of his two friends they'd be able to shed some light on the situation, however it probably wasn't a good idea to tell them that evening at the Burrow. It would only distract from what the night was meant to be about. He'd tell them in the morning when they all had clear heads and could focus their full attention on the matter. Yes, that seemed like a good plan of action.

With that he rose from the bed and began to make his way towards the door, however he couldn't help but stop when he reached the doorway.

Casting a glance back over his shoulder Harry's green eyes landed once more on the box, and before he could even evaluate his next move he quickly scurried back over to it, lifted its lid and scanned the contents until he spotted the photograph he was searching for. The polaroid of himself as a baby, his Mother and Ren in the quaint little kitchen.

Harry swiftly snatched it up and slid it into the back pocket of his jeans, closed the lid and then finally hurrying out of the room.

It seemed like a new adventure was afoot.

 **So did you enjoy it? PLEASE FOLLOW, FAVE, REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!**

 **Eve x**


	3. Chapter 2

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 2_

The following morning Harry found himself sat at the old wooden picnic bench in the garden of the Burrow, with Ron and Hermione opposite him. The three of them had opted to sit outside as they had their breakfast so that they could enjoy the bright, sunny, but nevertheless, brisk morning (Harry and Hermione had bundled their coats on while Ron was wrapped up in his dressing gown).

Despite his initial worries Harry had found that he had very much enjoyed the previous evening. After arriving at the Burrow he and Sirius had found themselves joined by Remus, Tonks and Teddy along with all of the Weasleys and Hermione for a hearty but delicious meal, and then the family (for that was how Harry saw them all) had flooed directly over to the Leaky Cauldron. Much to Harry's relief Tom, the stooped landlord, had a strict no paparazzi in the pub rule so they had managed to avoid any eager eyes and flashing cameras.

There they had met Hagrid, and proceeded to have a merry evening filled with chatter and laughter in a cosy but private corner of the pub. Tonks had eventually decided that it was long past little Teddys' bedtime and had then made her way home, but not before warning Sirius to avoid getting Remus _too_ drunk as they were meeting Andromeda in the morning ("Would I do that?!" The Animagus had asked in mock offence). Soon after that Mr and Mrs Weasley had also departed, which was when the remaining party had turned it up a notch, and the gathering had gone from merry to downright drunk. Not that anyone had been complaining.

However as a result of this they were definitely all feeling the effect of a powerful hangover that morning. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had somehow made it back to the Burrow at around two in the morning and the four of them felt something akin to death warmed up (at least he assumed Ginny did, she was still passed out in bed at that moment). Harry dreaded to think of what state Sirius, Remus and the rest of the Weasley boys would be in, for they had shown no sign of slowing down and had instead opted to make their way to Grimmauld Place and make the most of Sirius' lucrative whisky collection.

"Remind me to stick to Butterbeer in the future." Hermione was saying as she spread marmalade onto her toast. Ron chuckled as he rubbed his fingers into his temples.

"I think even that would be too much for me. Merlin I hope Mum hurries up with that hangover potion." He said, looking over to the Burrow longingly. When the trio had descended the stairs into the kitchen that morning Mrs Weasley had taken one look at them and announced (rather louder than necessary if you asked Harry) that she would start brewing a fresh batch of her special hangover potion, which they were all grateful for. "How the hell does Sirius do it?" Ron continued to muse. "I guarantee he won't even have a headache!" He sounded almost in awe of the Animagus.

"Practice." Harry assured. "He's had a hell of a lot more practice than us, that's for sure."

"True." Hermione agreed, flicking over a page of the Daily Prophet which lay before her on the table.

"Speaking of Sirius-" Harry added after a taking a gulp of his tea. "-you'll never guess what I found in his room last night before we left." Ron screwed up his face in what looked like disgust.

"I'm not sure I want to know. With Sirius it could be bloody anything. Remember when we were doing the deep clean of Grimmauld Place and I found a pair of handcuffs in his wardrobe?" He said, and the memory caused Hermione and Harry to chuckle.

"You shouldn't have been snooping!" Hermione insisted with a giggle.

"I wasn't snooping! Mum put me in charge of dusting that level of the house!" Ron defended.

"That's funny I didn't know dusting involved rummaging through wardrobes." Harry pretended to ruminate and Ron let out a dramatic sigh as Hermione's giggles turned into a full on belly laugh.

"Y'know what I don't need to explain myself to the pair of you. What _did_ you find in Sirius' bedroom Harry? And if it's something dodgy I want a full apology!" Ron insisted, trying his best to get the conversation back on topic.

"Well just listen to this. So Sirius had asked me to run up to his room to grab his wand, he'd left it up there _again_ …" Harry began, before launching into the tale of mystery shoebox and what he had found inside it.

"An engagement ring?!" Ron asked when Harry had explained its contents, sounding completely perplexed. His blue eyes were wide with astonishment. " _Sirius Black_ with an engagement ring?! I don't believe you!"

"I swear to Merlin!" Harry insisted. "Then to top it all off Sirius only goes and walks in on me going through his things!"

"Who's snooping now?" Ron muttered under his breath just as Hermione's brows shot up.

"Was he angry?" She questioned, choosing to ignore Ron, and Harry shook his head.

"Not at all. If anything he almost sounded… guilty, I suppose."

"Guilty? Why would he sound guilty?" Ron continued to both look and sound baffled.

"For not telling me about her sooner. Because, get this," Harry took a breath. "This woman, Ren, she's… she's apparently my Godmother."

Both Ron and Hermione's' jaws dropped.

" _WHAT?!_ " They asked in unison, and Harry simply nodded before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the stolen photograph he has kept on him since its discovery the previous evening. Without a word he handed it over to Hermione, who began studying it intently. Ron loomed over her shoulder, doing the same,

"Harry that's…" The redhead began, but he trailed off as he seemed to absorb the whole scene.

"I know." Harry said.

"Wait, isn't that the woman who was in your parents wedding photograph?" Hermione mused, and Harry quickly realised that she was right! The photograph had shown his newlywed parents with a handsome Sirius at James side, and that had always been what had consumed Harrys attention. He had never paid much mind to the young brunette Witch that had stood at Lily's side, assuming it was just a long lost friend. Clearly Hermione, on the few occasions she had seen the wedding portrait, had tended to every detail of it.

Harry just shook his head in bewilderment.

Just like Ron he didn't quite know how to explain it. In all honesty he still hadn't completely absorbed the whole situation. A part of him felt like he had all those years ago in his third year when he, Ron and Hermione had been leaving the Shrieking Shack with Sirius, Remus, Pettigrew and an unconscious Snape. When he had allowed himself to dream for just a moment that he would finally be able to escape the Dursleys. He had _more_ family. More of the thing he had longed for all of his life.

Admittedly his circumstances were different this time round. He was already surrounded by people who loved him. It wasn't like he needed a means of escape. But Harry still longed to find out what had happened to Ren. Where was she now? Was she even still alive? And if she was… why hadn't she tried to find her Godson?

Harry knew it was selfish to compare them but he felt sure had Sirius not been in Azkaban then he would have come for Harry and taken him far away from 4 Privet Drive. What had stopped Ren from doing the same?

No.

It wouldn't do to think like that. If that was the case it would apply to Remus as well, and Harry couldn't deny the Werewolf's love for him. Harry resolved that, like Remus, Ren would have had her reasons for staying away.

"Harry I-" Hermione started, still staring intently at the polaroid, brows creased in concentration. "-I think I know who she is."

That threw Harry off. Of all the things he had been expecting her to stay that was definitely not one of them! How could Hermione _possibly_ have any idea who this woman was? She had disappeared eighteen years ago! Harry knew the bushy haired witch before him was smart but this was simply ridiculous! Ron also seemed just as perplexed as him.

"... How in the the bloody _hell_ could you know who she is?!" He demanded, echoing Harry's astonishment, causing Hermione to look away from the photograph and at the two boys.

"I…" She paused. "Do you know her last name?" She suddenly asked Harry, seeming to change what she had originally planned on saying at the last moment.

"Wha- her last name? No, I mean, I think it begins with a G but other than that I have no idea. I didn't ask Sirius." He managed to answer, not sure where Hermione was going with this. The girl nodded before grabbing her wand.

"Accio bag," She muttered, and seconds later her familiar beaded bag came whizzing through the Burrows' open backdoor towards them. Hermione plucked it from the air when it reached them, untied the drawstrings and began rummaging around inside. Harry exchanged a puzzled look with Ron, who only managed to shrug in bewilderment. Harry couldn't bring himself to say anything. What could he possibly say after all? How could Hermione have any inkling who Ren was? Surely she was mistaken.

Hermione's arm was now elbow deep in the bag, but after a few more moments she seemed to find what it was she had been searching for. Harry watched as she pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"This is yesterday's copy," Hermione clarified. "I'm glad I forgot to throw it on the fire last night now." She lay it flat on the picnic table and rapidly began to flick through the pages. When she reached just under halfway Hermione seemed to find what she was looking for. Her eyes scanned an article on the page before flipping the paper around so that it was facing Harry. "Read that." She instructed, pointing out the article she meant. Harry gave her a final sceptical gaze before lowering his eyes and beginning to read the paper.

" _Muggle Melody Welcomes Brand New DJ!_

 _Article by Leanne Nelson_

 _Muggle Melody Radio Station may have been on the air since 1967 but it has only recently soared to mass popularity with the end of the Second War, when the magical community finally felt safe to fully embrace Muggle culture._

 _However as many readers will know, the radio station has been searching for a new breakfast broadcaster after previous host, Cordelia Campbell, unintentionally left her microphone on and was heard by millions of listeners around Wizarding UK slandering Muggleborn Witches and Wizards. Due to the sheer volume of complaints the station received, this blunder lead to her dismissal and left the primetime 6am till 10am slot (known to Muggles as the AM Drivetime) up for the taking._

 _There has been a great amount of speculation as to whom would take the job on, but the wait is finally over! This morning Muggle Melody announced that 38 year old Half-Blood_ _ **Renee Gallagher**_ _would fill the position._

 _Not a whole lot is known about the Witch but the Daily Prophet managed to catch a few words with her, and when asked if she felt prepared she happily responded; "Oh yeah definitely! I mean it's quite a scary job to take on but I adore music, both Muggle and Wizarding, and I think that's the most important thing here. The listeners want someone who cares about these amazing songs as much as they do, so I hope I don't disappoint them!"_

 _Renee will start broadcasting on the 4th of May at 6am. Be sure not to miss it!"_

Below the article was a Wizarding photograph depicting a comely woman, with brown curls draped over one shoulder, eyes so dark they almost seemed black and a charming smile sat in a comfy looking armchair with a row of bookcases behind her. Despite there being nearly twenty years difference between this photo and the one that also featured his mother, Harry knew it was undeniably the same woman. She had aged gracefully it seemed, as a lot of magical folk did. Despite a few tell tale lines of age around her eyes there was very little difference.

Ron, who had moved behind Harry in order to read the article for himself, let out a low whistle.

"Bloody hell," The redhead muttered.

"That's her." Harry said. "That's my Godmother."

He didn't quite know what to think. The article didn't exactly give much away, but at least they now knew for sure that she was alive.

"Do you think Sirius has seen it?" Hermione hesitantly wondered aloud, to which Harry shook his head.

"No. Yesterday he said he had no idea what had happened to her, he must not have read the paper. I can't be sure though, he was out of the house for most of the day." He answered.

"Well what are you going to do?" Ron asked. "If he listens to Muggle Melody he'll find out on his own eventually. How do you reckon he'd take it?"

Harry didn't know. Either the radio or the record player always seemed to be on at Grimmauld Place since the removal of Mrs Black's' portrait, but for the life of him Harry couldn't recall whether Muggle Melody was Sirius's chosen station. It seemed like it would be right up his street.

"Oh I don't know," Harry groaned, rubbing his temples. "Personally I can't imagine him taking hearing his lost girlfriend on the radio very well in all honesty. I mean how exactly would it make you feel? I know I'd probably go mental for sure, and we all know what Sirius is like." He speculated.

"Fair point." Ron agreed. They all knew Sirius was dramatic enough on a good day, so it was safe to say that they knew a bombshell like this would probably cause a full tilt booze-fuelled breakdown to incur.

"I think having someone he cares about tell him would probably be easier for him… opposed to hearing her on the radio." Hermione mused.

"But what if she's… I don't know, different now. She might not be the same person that Sirius knew and loved back then." Ron said. "For all we know she could be happily married with a load of kids."

The were both right, Harry reflected, as he grip tightened around his mug of tea, trying his best to absorb the warmth through his chilly fingers.

"I want to meet her, I really do. But her coming back into Sirius' life may not be the best thing for him." He asked, essentially reiterating Ron's point.

"And anyway," Ron went on. "Sirius seems to be doing really well for himself now. I reckon he's really happy."

Harry remained quiet at that. He was right in the sense that Sirius was doing well for himself. With his new found freedom and his career taking off Sirius was certainly in the prime of his life… but Harry, being the only other person living at Grimmauld Place, would occasionally see a side to the Animagus which lead him to believe that Sirius wasn't nearly as content as he made out. Besides Remus, Harry suspected he was the only person who had seen this side.

A particular moment that stood out to Harry was one night, only a month or so before, when Harry had woken up in the twilight hours of the morning needing use the toilet. He had crept as carefully as he could manage down the stairs, hoping not to disturb his Godfather in his room. But it had turned out he hadn't needed to worry about waking Sirius, as when Harry approached the slightly open door of the library he had heard what sounded very much like someone whimpering. Upon peering into the room, which was lit only by the dying ashes in the hearth of the fire, Harry had managed to make out the silhouette of his Godfather in the armchair before the fire, hunched forward with his head in his hands, sobbing.

It had been an eerie, haunting scene. One which had caused Harry, despite everything he had seen in his short life, to back away in fear. He had felt that he had intruded on a very private moment that Sirius would never have wanted to anyone to observe, so Harry had hurried back upstairs, climbed into bed and tried to push the encounter from his mind. He hadn't even told Ron and Hermione.

Everyone had their demons, especially since the war. But Harry suspected that even now, after declaring that his traumatic past was behind him, Sirius' demons ran a lot deeper than anyone realised.

"Weeellll…" Hermione suddenly began slowly in a calculated tone, causing both boys to look up at her suspiciously. Oh no. Harry knew that whenever Hermione used that tone of voice it meant that she had had a thought that went against her usual rule-abiding nature. " _We_ could go and meet her first." She went on to suggest with a shrug, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Harry and Ron both gawked at her from across the table.

"You haven't half changed your tune since we were at school!" Ron declared, sounding shocked, as Harry deliberated the idea. He couldn't deny that he was tempted by it, even if it was for the for the purely selfish reason of sating his own curiosity.

"But how would we find her Hermione, it's not like we know where she lives or anything." He couldn't help but counter, trying to talk himself out of it more than anything. Hermione simply smirked.

"Oh come on Harry," She said with a roll of her brown eyes. "We don't _need_ to know where she lives… not when we know where she's going to be until ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

 **Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed the latest installment (sorry if you spotted any mistakes).**

 **Please be sure to follow, fave or _REVIEW_ to let me know what you thought!**

 **Eve x**


	4. Chapter 3

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 3_

It was exactly twelve minutes past ten the next day. Harry, who stood with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans and the hood of his jumper pulled up over his hair, hadn't been able to draw his gaze away from the industrial looking office building across the road from them. More specifically the buildings' glass revolving door.

It was a bright but nevertheless brisk spring morning, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were currently in the city centre of Birmingham, where the Muggle Melody Broadcasting House was located, just a mile or so north of the Bullring. Even though Harry had made the decision that he wanted to meet Ren on his own, Hermione and Ron had still offered to accompany him for support, so the trio had flooed to New Street Train Station (to a specific platform which, to the busy throngs of Muggles, never seemed to be the platform that their train was in).

From there Hermione had led the way through the hectic streets until they found themselves stood opposite a tall, white brick office building which had a large silver plated sign reading _'Miller and McLaggen Ltd.'_ attached to the wall beside the entrance. Harry wasn't surprised, however, when after watching the sign for a minute or so the metal letters slowly began to shift, morph and extend into the words _'Muggle Melody Broadcasting House. Founded by Jonathan Miller and Angus McLaggen 1967'._

"What happens if a Muggle wanders in there?" Ron had asked as they watched people come and go through the revolving doors.

"Well as far as I know it doesn't happen often, as there isn't actually any information about Miller and McLaggen Limited available to the public, but I think I read somewhere that the doors stop at a separate reception hall and whoever is sat at the front desk tells them that they're too busy to take on any new clients, and then when the Muggle leaves they just happen to forget that they had even gone in there." Hermione explained, but Harry hadn't really been paying attention.

He had been to preoccupied with the paranoia that they had missed Ren. What if she flooed directly in and out of the building? When he expressed this thought to Hermione she did her best to calm him down. "I mean it's possible," She had started. "But from what I've seen most people leaving the building seem to be walking down there-" She pointed to a small alleyway about half a mile away from the building. "-which is making me think that there's a safe apparition point down there."

"I hope you're right." Harry had said. However it seemed he needn't have worried. It was another five minutes before the person for whom they were waiting for appeared, and when she did Harry' heart involuntarily began to speed up.

A tall woman emerged through the door, and despite the fact that she was wearing dark cateye sunglasses in order to shield her eyes from the sun's glaring rays, Harry knew it was her.

He studied her, taking in every detail he possibly could. The sunlight played against the avalanche of dark curls that tumbled over her shoulders, making them look slightly more bronze than chocolate. She wore dark jeans on her long legs and some kind of trendy cape made up of geometric patches of maroon, navy and beige wrapped around her shoulders in place of a traditional coat. She looked both striking and effortlessly cool, and Harry watched as she turned to her left and began walking in the direction of the alleyway Hermione had pointed out. She was wearing leather knee-high boots on her feet, but the high heels did nothing to break her stride as she strutted down the street.

"It's now or never mate. We'll meet you back at Grimmauld Place, yeah?" Ron murmured to him, before giving Harry a slight push in order to break him out of his stupor. It seemed to do the trick. The Boy Who Lived turned back to his friends and gave them a quick nod of agreement before beginning to quickly cross the road, successfully dodging the traffic until he was on the same street as Ren, just a few paces behind her.

Last night Harry had lain awake in bed, tossing and turning until the early hours of the morning, trying to figure out what on earth he was going to say to Ren. Nothing seemed right, not given the volume of what had happened to them. Between now and eighteen years ago Harry had grown up and defeated the most evil wizard in existence, and Ren would surely be well aware of that. But would she still see him as the little baby she was Godmother to? Harry didn't know. Every possible greeting he had considered had vanished from his mind, but he didn't let that stop him.

"Uhhh-" Harry cleared his throat. "-excuse me, Ms Gallagher?" He managed to find his voice when he was about a meter behind her. He sounded croaky and nervous. Upon hearing her name Ren turned at the waist in order to see who was trying to catch her attention. At first her brows had been furrowed behind her sunglasses, but when she spotted him Harry saw them shoot up in shock as she let out a strangled gasp. Oh yes, she undeniably knew who he was.

She froze in her tracks, facing him fully, and that's how the two of them stayed for Merlin only knew how long. In reality it was probably only a few moments, but as Harry stood there observing his lost Godmother, people bustling past them, it could have been hours. "I… I, erm," Harry tried to break the silence that had enveloped them but he seemed to have lost his nerve. All coherent thought had apparently abandoned him, so instead of saying anything he just pulled the hood down from his head so that he had something to do. Just as he tried to flatten his hair down Ren spoke.

"Jesus Christ you look like James," She uttered, more to herself than Harry. Her voice was soft and husky. It suited her. She quickly removed her dark sunglasses, revealing her even darker eyes to him. They stood out all the more against her clear, porcelain skin. "Your eyes are all Lily though." She added. "They always were." She shook her head and looked down sheepishly. "Sorry," She muttered. "I bet you get sick of hearing that." Ren smiled softly at him, and Harry let out a small huff of amusement.

"I don't mind it so much." He told her as they continued to watch one another.

"I… I bet you've got a lot of questions, huh?" Ren went on to ask after another long pause in which they continued to stare at one another, and Harry nodded slowly.

"Yeah, but I reckon you have too. In all honesty I don't even know where to start." He shrugged.

"Well, if you wanted we can get off the streets an- and go and find a cafe, so we can y'know, have a coffee and talk? Or we could..." Ren trailed off, obviously trying not to fumble over her words. She looked away awkwardly, and Harry could immediately sense the guilt radiating from the woman. Any trace of anger that Harry may have possibly felt towards Ren for not being in his life instantly vanished. She might have had her reasons for staying away but it was plain to see that she regretted it. Harry, in a bid to make her feel more at ease, reached out and took her hand.

"Coffee would be great." He said warmly, giving her fingers a reassuring squeeze. Ren's gaze darted back to his at the contact, and when she met his eye she grinned at him. Her smile transformed her whole face. It seemed to radiate joy in the most infectious way. So much so that Harry found himself grinning back.

"Brilliant," Ren exhaled breathlessly. "Come on, there's a lovely little coffee shop a couple of streets away. It's not a far walk."

"I'm glad you know somewhere we can go because I'm out of my depth here. Never been to Birmingham before you see." Harry said. They fell into step together and began strolling down the pavement, Ren's long legs having no trouble keeping up with Harry's strides.

"Have you not? Well I'm happy to be your official tour guide." She laughed. "I have to ask Harry… how did you find me?" Ren went on to question just as they came to a traffic light crossing, looking at him seriously. "Or at least, how did you find out _about_ me? I know there was an article in the Prophet about me getting the job at Muggle Melody so I'm assuming that's how you knew where to find me."

Harry watched the approaching traffic slow to a halt, signalling it was safe for them to cross the road. He answered as they resumed walking.

"In all honesty I only found out about you a couple of days ago." He told her, neglecting to mention the contents of the memory box he had found in Sirius' bedroom (not wanting to betray his Godfathers privacy any more than he already had by snooping around in it himself) Harry instead told Ren about the selection of photographs.

He finished just as they reached a quaint looking coffee shop. Harry barely spared a glance at the rustic little store, alternatively keeping his eyes trained on Ren. She had taken hold on the shops door handle but was making no move to pull said door open.

"So it was… an accident?" She asked softly. Harry shrugged.

"I guess, but I'm used to finding stuff out like this though. I mean I found out about my Godfather by eavesdropping on Cornelius Fudge and Professor McGonagall under my Dads invisibility cloak, so this was nothing really."

"Bloody hell," Ren murmured, more to herself than anything, as she turned away, pulled the door open and led the way into the small tea room. Harry followed her inside and in no time at all they were tucked away in a secluded corner of the room just in front of a large bag window, Ren with a large coffee before her and Harry with a pot of tea. "So…" Ren started, and Harry could feel her subconscious awkwardness set in. The woman seemed to be fighting an inner battle with herself, debating what to say. She gnawed on her bottom lip, stirring milk into her coffee as she did so. It was at least a minute before she settled on shaking her head and seemingly deciding to throw caution to the wind.

Placing her spoon upon the saucer which her cup sat on she looked up, stared Harry dead in the eye and began to speak. "Harry I'm sorry for not being there. F-for staying away. I've read enough newspapers to know that your mother's family didn't… didn't treat you how they should have, and I-" She suddenly broke off, inhaling deeply and turning away, glancing out of the window to her side. She paused for a moment longer before continuing. "If I could have come to you I would have." She whispered, and Harry stared at her.

"Why couldn't you?" He asked and Ren sighed.

"Because I was told to stay away." She said, flicking her eyes to meet his. Harry felt his brow furrow in confusement. "I'm sure you know that Professor Dumbledore felt it would be best for you to grow up in a world where no one knew your name," There was another pause as she debated her words. "But he _especially_ wanted me to stay away after everything which had happened with…" She trailed off, unable to mention the elephant in the room. The thing that Harry hadn't been sure how to bring up from the moment they had started talking.

Sirius.

"Ah," Harry said.

"Dumbledore was insistent that the girlfriend of the Dark Lords 'supposed right hand man' wasn't a suitable candidate to raise you. Which… which I understood, but... I did _everything_ I could to prove that I didn't know that Sirius was-" She caught herself and sheepishly looked away again. "The Professor took you to your aunts and then came straight to me. By then Sirius had gone after Peter. Dumbledore told me everything and I-" Another deep breath. "I took Veritaserum to prove that I didn't have anything to do with it. That I wasn't in on the plan to kill two of the people I loved most in the world."

Whenever Ren stopped talking the silence was deafening. It was as if there was no one else in the shop, or even the world. All that Harry could focus on were the words leaving Ren's mouth. "But it wasn't enough." She breathed, as quiet as a mouse. "Wasn't enough for them to let me have you. According to Dumbledore it was enough to secure my freedom, to show the Ministry that I wasn't in on it. But that was it. Dumbledore he… he made me take an Unbreakable Vow. I'm sure he meant well, but he didn't trust that I would stay away. So he made me swear that I'd stay away until you turned seventeen, or until you found me first."

She had made an Unbreakable Vow?! Harry felt, for the first time since he had discovered Ren's existence, an immense amount of sympathy for her. He hadn't stopped to think of how her life would have been affected. A part of him had just assumed that she had simply moved on and washed her hands of the situation. However now Harry could see that the wounds were still raw and painful.

"I believe you." He told her, to which Ren exhaled in relief. "What did you do then? After everything had calmed down?" Ren shrugged at his question.

"Well news of who my partner had been travelled pretty quickly. Understandably people didn't really want to associate themselves with someone who was the girlfriend of a mass murderer, so I left. Growing up my dad had worked on a dragon reserve in Sweden, and I went back there. Of course the mistrustful looks were still there but the questions were less, so I was pretty much left alone. I never got married. Never had children. I got used to being alone."

"When did you move back to the UK?"

"About two years ago. With the majority of my mother's side of the family being Muggleborns I wanted to be close to them." She didn't need to explain any further why she wanted to be with her family.

"Did you…" Harry shoved his hands into his pockets awkwardly in preparation for his next question. "Did you believe that Sirius betrayed my parents?" At first silence loomed in place of answer.

"I…" Ren began. "...I didn't want to. I think I was in denial for a while. We all suspected there was a traitor amongst us, but I never would have dreamed of it being Sirius. And when James and Lily were killed I just, I-I didn't know what to believe. I lost myself, as well as Sirius and your parents. And when I lost you that was the final straw. I ran. I didn't have anything to stay for. Remus tried to convince me to stay but I just couldn't." She shook her head. "I regret leaving him more than I can even say."

Harry couldn't help but wonder if this was the first time she had ever said her story out loud. He had a feeling it was. "I thought about coming to you after you had killed Voldemort." Ren added. "When the war was won and Sirius was declared innocent… but at that point it was just easier to stay away I guess. You'd already been through so much already, and Sirius," She hesitated. "From what I've seen in the papers Sirius seems to be enjoying his freedom very much." Harry looked away awkwardly. That was putting it lightly.

"Ren I'm sure he misses you." He couldn't help but insist. "He just… he doesn't even know if you're alive or not. I think he's trying to ignore how he's feeling."

"It doesn't matter, Harry, don't worry. I mean we're both different people now." Ren shrugged. "Anyway can we please talk about you for a little while? Just reading about you in the paper has driven me mad, I swear to Merlin."

At first Harry didn't know where to begin. What was he meant to say? Summarizing everything that had happened to him in the last eight years would be one hell of a task, but something about the way Ren was looking at him made him want to share it all with her.

"How much time do you have?" Harry asked with a dry chuckle, and Ren smirked at him. It was twinkling, mischievous and reminded him all too clearly of Sirius.

"I've got all the time in the world for you." She told him, so Harry took a deep breath and began to talk. He realised that, like Ren, this was the first time he had ever done this. Told his story. He recited everything that had happened to him since discovering his Wizardry. It felt oddly soothing, like for the first time he was acknowledging all of the madness that he had experienced in such a short time.

He started with the unconventional way in which he had found out about his true nature (thanks to Hagrid) and meeting Ron and Hermione. Ren smiled warmly as he described his two closest friends, however when Harry told her about saving the Philosopher's Stone followed shortly after by defeating the Basilisk she had cursed loudly, outraged that he had gone through so much at such a young age, to which Harry laughed.

"Ren, trust me that's nothing." He confessed as he took a gulp of tea, and his Godmother gaped at him.

"Jesus Christ, if I were you I'd want something stronger to drink than English bloody Breakfast." She exhaled, nodding at his cup, and Harry couldn't help but snort in amusement.

When he proceeded to tell her about his third year Ren remained completely silent. Her face was expressionless, revealing nothing to Harry, so he moved on to describe the events of the Triwizard Tournament and the return of Voldemort. That certainly got a reaction out of Ren. She let out a shaky breath and reached over the table to grab his hand. "I… I remember that point when the media turned against you. When they were calling you a liar for claiming the Dark Lord was back. I didn't want to believe it but I knew no child of Lily and James would lie about that."

Her face suddenly contorted with anger. "How the hell did you cope Harry?" She asked in wonder, and Harry shrugged, unable to give her an answer because in truth he didn't know.

Instead he simply proceeded with his story, telling her about Umbridge's tyranny, Dumbledore's Army, the battle at the Ministry for the Prophecy, Sirius' narrow escape when he nearly fell into the Veil (once again at the mention of Sirius Ren's face went blank), the discovery of the Horcruxes, Dumbledore's death and finally, the hunt for the pieces of Voldemort's soul.

By the time Harry had finished telling her his story it was approaching mid afternoon. He was startled when he looked at his watch and saw that he and Ren had already spent nearly three hours together. The time had simply flown by!

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that." Ren said fondly. "And I'm sorry I wasn't there to support you through it." Harry shrugged at her.

"Thank you, but honestly it's fine. I did what I had to do, but I guess it would have been nice to have had just one year at Hogwarts without someone trying to kill me." He joked, and Ren let out a chuckle.

"Yeah I bet! I only spent my seventh year at Hogwarts seeing as I transferred from Durmstrang, and I thought that one year was eventful enough, but it was clearly nothing compared to your time there!" She said.

"What was it like for you? With my parents?" Harry couldn't resist asking. Even now he still longed to find out anything he could about them. Ren's pretty features were overswept with fondness at the memory of Lily and James.

"There were…" She trailed off for just a moment. "They were the best friends you could ever ask for, Harry." She said seriously, but still with a warm smile on her face. "Lily was so loving and compassionate. There was nothing she wouldn't do for anyone, y'know. She just had the biggest heart. Her love was just," Ren paused, trying to think of a word that would do his mother justice. "Unyielding." She eventually settled on.

Harry's heart clenched at the mention of the very thing that had saved his life. His mother's love. "And James," Ren continued. "No one has ever made me laugh like your dad did. Especially when him and Sirius were together. They were the most unintentionally hilarious double act." Her grin grew as she spoke of Harry's father. "But he was surprisingly caring, which is something people never expected of him. If you ever had a problem or were upset about something James would go out of his way to fix it… not always with the most conventional methods. 'But hey, it's the thought that counts right, Renaldo?' he would say to me." Ren bit her lip. "They'd be so damn proud of you."

"Yeah, Sirius and Remus say that a lot." Harry responded, and Ren inhaled sharply. Harry assumed it was due to the mention of Sirius, but her next question surprised him.

"How is Remus?" Her voice was soft. "I miss him a lot... We were close, me and Moony." Well this was news to Harry.

"Really?" He asked, to which Ren nodded.

"He was the first friend I made when we moved back to England. We were… slightly more than friends for a little while before me and Sirius got together." She explained. Harry's brows had involuntary risen in surprise. Huh. Who would have thought?

"He's doing well." Harry told her. "He's married and everything." Ren's jaw nearly hit the floor.

" _He's what?!_ " She blurted out. "Married to who?!" The genuine amazement coming from Ren made Harry chuckle.

"To Tonks. Sirius' cousin." He explained, and Ren nearly fell off her chair.

"Tonks? As in Dora Tonks? Sirius' little cousin?!" She looked fit to burst now, it was pretty comical.

"You know her?" Harry asked, still laughing.

"Well I did! But she was only a little kid at the time! Bloody hell, I bet that went down well with Sirius." She mused.

"Trying to tell Tonks no didn't exactly work out well for Sirius, let's just put it that way. She hexed his hair her favourite shade of lilac for about a week. As you can imagine Sirius quickly learned to live with the marriage." At Harry's explanation Ren joined Harry in near fits of laughter. "Oh, they've also got a baby boy as well. Little Teddy, my Godson. He turned one last month." He added, and that sobered Ren up almost instantly.

"Wow, really?" She breathed. "That's amazing. I'm really happy for him." Harry watched as the woman suddenly smiled slyly at him. "What about you then Harry? Do you have a special someone in your life?" Harry didn't answer immediately, but the blush that erupted over his cheeks was apparently a dead giveaway. "Ah-hah!" Ren exclaimed excitedly, jabbing a finger at him from across the table. "You do! What's her name then? Or his, I don't judge." She winked. "Is it this Hermione lass that you mentioned?" Ren quizzed, the questions coming rapidly one after another. Harry found that he was nearly shouting over her in order to answer.

"No, it's not Hermione!" He eventually managed to explain quickly. "Her and Ron are together! _Her_ name-" He continued with a pointed look at the excited woman. "-is Ginny. She's Ron's sister, and she's pretty damn special." Harry said, and he was glad when Ren seemed to pick up on the tone that it was all he wanted to say on the matter. She held up her hands in mock defeat.

"Okay, okay," She relented. "I just have one more question." Harry let out a dramatic huff.

"Fine, go on then." He permitted.

"Do you have a picture of her?" She questioned sneakily, eyes twinkling one again. Harry clenched his jaw, trying his best to bite back a smile. Damn this woman.

By way of answer Harry pulled out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and extracted a small print from within.

He held it out to Ren and she took hold of it, studying the small photo intently, smiling to herself at the sight of Harry and Ginny crammed inside a Muggle photobooth, grinning almost madly at each other. She handed it back to him, her eyes soft. "She's very beautiful." Was her reply, and Harry nodded as he replaced the photo in his wallet. "Your dad used to keep a picture of Lily in his wallet too."

"He did?"

"Yeah, and whenever he'd had one too many at the pub he would get it out and show _anyone_ that he could." Ren added with a laugh. Harry smiled as he tried to reinvent the scene in his head.

"I'd have loved to have seen that." He said.

"It was cute at first but it didn't half get on everyone's nerves after a while. Especially Sirius'. I think he was jealous." They both laughed. "God I've got so many photo albums of us all at home, and video tapes. We've probably got drunk James trying to show his Lily photo off to some uninterested patron on at least one of them." Ren went on to ponder, and Harry sucked in a breath.

"Could… could I see them?" He managed to ask her, for some reason feeling absolutely terrified that she would deny him. Ren's eyes widened.

"Of course!" She said enthusiastically. "I don't know why I didn't offer in the first place! Do you want to see them now? I've got some stew left from last night we could have for lunch if you're hungry." Ren continued to ramble, and Harry agreed quickly, eager to learn more of Ren's, his parents and the Marauders history. "Come on then! There's an ally behind the Muggle Melody building which is a safe apparition point. We'll head back there." Ren went on to say, rising from the table. Harry did the same, grinning from ear to ear.

 **Well Harry and Ren have reunited! This was so hard to write because it would clearly be a momentous moment for both of them, but I didn't want to overdo it too much and make it a huge emotionally charged reunion (we'll get one of those later on, wink wink). I thought Ren, while wanting to explain herself to Harry, would be dying to find out more about him.  
**

 **It's so weird writing Ren now that she's a _woman_! I spent so long writing her as a teenage girl that it feels bizarre to try and write her as an adult. I don't think she would have changed _too_ much, (that might just be to make it easier for me, haha) however she has been through a lot since Perfectly Content.**

 **Anyway I hope you all liked it! If you did please leave a _review_ letting me know. **

**Follow, fave and _REVIEW_ please guys! Every piece of feedback means the world!**

 **Eve x**


	5. Chapter 4

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 4_

' _CRACK'_

Harry felt cold air wash over him once more, and upon opening his eyes he saw that he was stood in a hilled front garden staring out over a low brick wall and narrow country road at field after field of lush green meadow. He watched as the long spears of grass swayed in the breeze, occasionally flattening out completely when a larger gust washed over them. It was certainly a beautiful vista.

Harry turned around to see Ren walking up a narrow masonry path towards a cosy looking cottage. Uneven sized stones made up the walls, while vines of honeysuckle snaked up around the front door and draped themselves over the porch, which had been painted a clear sky blue, as had the front door and window frames. The slated roof sunk in the middle ever so slightly, and a chimney poked out of either end of it. The property clearly had a whole wealth of character. Ren climbed the small stone stairwell (which was flanked by bushes of lavender) towards the front door.

"You okay?" She asked him as she reached into her handbag, removing her wand. Harry smiled.

"Yeah," His gaze glanced over the cottage once more. "It's lovely." He complimented, and Ren took a step back in order to join him in admiring the building.

"Thank you. I admit I am rather fond of it." She told him, and with that she gripped her wand, flicked her wrist and Harry heard the metal latch unlock. The hinges creaked loudly as Ren swung the door open before leading the way inside. Harry followed her and found himself stood in an open-plan foyer. He wiped his feet on the welcome mat before he stepped forward onto the vintage rug that covered the stone floor.

Directly opposite Harry was a steep, narrow, twisting stone staircase with a striped runner rug attached to it, and on either side of him were large beamed archways. The one to his right lead to a kitchen which had pale blue cabinets, a fireplace with shelves storing a various array of china and mugs attached to the wall above it and, in the center of the room, a round kitchen table with four chairs tucked underneath it.

To his left was a living room. Once again most of the floor was covered by another vintage rug and the wall directly opposite him was taken up by an additional fireplace, but this one was tall enough to be used as a floo network. Before the fireplace was a fawn coloured sofa covered in cushions with two mismatched plush armchairs sat parallel to it. A large dusty blue velvet futon occupied the space between them, just before the hearth. Various cabinets which housed a sundry of accessories and trinkets were dotted around the room and the stone walls, which housed a magnitude of photographs and paintings, were all painted a warm cream that complimented the wooden ceiling beams.

Ren had cast her wand in the direction of the living room, and no sooner had she done so a toasty fire roared into life behind the grate of the fireplace. Harry pushed the front door closed behind him as Ren moved on to unwrapping the cape from around her shoulders, revealing a black turtleneck jumper tucked into her high-waisted jeans. She hung the fabric on one of the already full hooks that were suspended on the wall by the front door, placed her handbag on a small table beside said hooks and then made her way into the kitchen, heeled boots clicking against the floor which remained uncovered from the rug.

Harry stood in the entranceway, watching as she lit the kitchen fire in the same manner as the living room one, before letting out a satisfied sigh and turning back to face him. "So, I'll put the stew on then we can have a root around and find these photo albums. How does that sound?" Ren asked him.

"Like a plan, if you ask me." Harry replied.

He thoroughly enjoyed the next few hours. The stew, while not a hugely complex dish, was hearty and filling. When they had finished eating Harry took a seat on one of the plush sofas while Ren disappeared up the stone staircase, returning a few minutes later with her arms laden with multiple photo albums.

They sat side by side, each with a bottle of Butterbeer in hand and Harry with one of the albums open in his lap, studying the pages with great interest. Neither of them talked much. Occasionally Ren would explain the context of one of the portraits, but other than that all that could be heard was the chosen record Ren had put on. The soulful voice of Al Green poured out of the record player beside the fireplace, surrounding their thoughts and memories.

Harry found it very surreal. This was without a doubt the most access he had ever had to his parents. He was seeing them live their lives, blissfully unaware of their tragic future.

By early evening they had finished the albums, but Harry was more than happy to go through them all again. There were several photographs that he was particularly fond of.

One showed James sat on Lily's lap in a busy looking pub, laughing at the distressed look on the redheads' face as she suffered under his weight. One of James and Remus in a poky little kitchen supporting a drunk looking Sirius. One of a very pregnant Lily and Ren cuddled up and fast asleep in a cosy bed. One of the entire group, all dressed up as the cast of a musical called 'The Rocky Horror Show', Ren explained. James as Brad, Lily as Janet, Ren as Magenta, Sirius as Riff Raff, Remus as Doctor Scott and Peter Pettigrew as Eddie. ("Sirius and James wouldn't stop arguing over who got to be the transvestite Doctor Frank 'N' Furter so in the end neither of them could be. It was only fair." Ren had told him).

There was one Wizarding photograph that, despite not featuring either of his parents, warmed Harrys heart very much. It was a shot of Sirius and Ren. He recognised them being at his parents wedding, sat at a table, just simply gazing into each other's eyes with the upmost love and tenderness, both blissfully unaware that someone had snapped their picture.

As Harry studied the imagine Ren had got up and made her way into the kitchen, mumbling something about tidying up, but Harry had been unable to draw his attention away from the photograph. He was almost hypnotised by it. He had never seen Sirius look so soft, so tranquil. It suited him.

However a sudden, harsh _"meow"_ succeeded in jolting Harry from his trance. He jumped, eyes darting away from the album only to land on a cat sat on the futon before him. Its fur was white with dusty grey spots here and there, and its eyes, which were boring into Harrys, were a bright blue. It looked both very old and very stubborn, with that spindly appearance and sunken mouth that all old felines seemed to take on.

It let out another croaky meow just as Ren sauntered back into the room.

"Oh, this is Maia." She explained simply as she retook her seat next to Harry. The cat quickly jumped into Ren's lap the moment the woman was settled and began purring when Ren started tickling behind her ears. "She was actually a gift from Sirius."

"Bloody hell, how old is she?" Harry couldn't help but ask as he tentatively reaching out a hand, allowing the cat to have a sniff and assess for herself whether she wanted a fuss from him. It turns out she did and lowered her head for Harry to stroke.

"She's twenty-two I think. Half Kneazle, you see."

"Wow," Harry murmured, distinctly reminded of Hermione's cat Crookshanks.

"Yeah I know. But-" Ren covered the cat's ears with her hands. "-I have a feeling she won't last the rest of the year." She added in a whisper before uncovering the cat's ears. Maia gave her a suspicious look, almost as if she knew she was the topic of conversation.

It was then that Harry's gaze fell over Ren's shoulder and happened to land on the clock which was hanging upon a wall in the kitchen. He couldn't help but do a doubletake when he registered the time.

"Merlin, we've been here for hours!" He mused in shock, checking his own watch for confirmation. "I can't believe the times gone so quickly." Ren let out a chuckle at his disbelief.

"Well we've had a lot to catch up on." She said, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"That's putting it lightly. I should probably make a move." He said, rising from the sofa. Ren followed his lead and the two of them sauntered back over to the front door.

"Thank you for today Harry. For finding me. I'm sorry it wasn't the other way around." The woman said when they stopped and faced each other before the door. Harry could see that she was still awash with guilt, so he smiled at her in a way he hoped was reassuring.

"Ren it's okay. Whatever happened in the past can be left there. All that matters now is the future." At Harrys words Ren looked as if she was ready to burst into tears, but in response she simply reached forward and enveloped her Godson in a tight hug. He sunk into the warmth of her embrace, allowing the softness to wash over him as he wrapped his arms around her in return. Harry caught a soothing whiff of vanilla and felt immediately relaxed by Ren's scent. So much unspoken emotion passed between them, and when they pulled away Harry saw that Ren's eyes were indeed glistening with tears.

"Thank you." She murmured, and Harry shrugged.

"Would… would you want to meet up again soon?" He asked. The amount of nerves racing through his body surpassed even the terrifying moment when he had blurted out his Yule Ball proposal to Cho Chang. Merlin help him.

However when Ren simply gave him a bemused look as she blinked away her tears Harry suddenly realised he had nothing to be worried about.

"Love, if you were under the impression that this was a one time meeting you were sorely mistaken. I've got eighteen years' worth of absence to make up for so get ready for the overbearing Godmother you missed out on, because she's coming at you faster than a Firebolt!" Harry snorted at Ren's response.

"Oh Merlin, should I be worried?" He asked.

"Most definitely."

* * *

The moment the latch clicked shut after the Boy Who Lived, Ren let out a shaky breath and braced herself against the door, forehead pressed up against the cool wood.

God only knew that Ren had not seen the first day of her new job ending like this. She couldn't believe it. Harry, the beautiful Godson she had loved so fiercely but allowed to slip through her fingers anyway, had found her.

The amount of shame Ren still felt over the fact that it had been him who had reached out to her was substantial. She had regretted making that vow to Dumbledore the moment it had left her lips all those years ago. What kind of person knowingly left their Godson, their _orphaned_ Godson, in the care of those neglectful Muggles?!

Ren had long ago lost count of the amount of nights she had drowned her sorrows and regrets in Firewhisky, trying her best to forget the fact that she had failed Lily and James. To this day she still wished that it had been her the Dark Lord had murdered, if it meant the sparing of the Potters.

Slowly Ren slid down the wooden frame until she was hunched in a low crouch, her head in her hands as tears began to slide down her cheeks. She was a coward. She had long since accepted that. Ren would always insist that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake placing her in Gryffindor.

She wasn't brave. A brave person wouldn't have left Harry in the care of those disgusting _Dursleys_. A brave person wouldn't have run away and abandoned poor Remus, when all they had left was each other. A brave person wouldn't be sat sobbing like a child on the floor.

No, Ren Gallagher was many things, but she knew that brave was not one of them. And she loathed herself for it.

" _REN?"_ A voice suddenly shouted from the living room, and the woman in question raised her face from her palms to see the head of her dear friend, Loren Mitchell, roar into life from the flames in the hearth of the fire.

"Shit," Ren muttered, quickly attempting to dry her eyes. She had completely forgotten she had agreed to go over to Loren's for supper so that she could spill all the gossip about her new job.

" _REN I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR SO RUDELY STANDING ME AND THE BOYS UP!"_ Loren was clamouring as Ren scrambled up, turning quickly to the mirror in the hall to see if her face was terribly blotchy or not. Turns out it was.

"Wonderful." Ren said through gritted teeth. Oh well. Loren would figure out something was wrong the moment she clapped eyes on Ren anyway. She had always been able to read her like a book.

The pair had met during Ren's year at Hogwarts. Loren (who was then known as Doctor Loren Jenkinson) had been on a placement year as a councillor of sorts and Ren and herself had simply hit it off. Loren was, to put it frankly, an oddball Muggleborn Witch with a tendency for inappropriate comments and a love for cake, but she was also immensely compassionate, which is what had made her so good at her job.

Ren knew for a fact that Professor Dumbledore had offered her a permanent role at the school, but the councillor had fallen in love with the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at the time, Professor Leroy Mitchell, and instead of remaining at Hogwarts the pair had spent the next five years travelling around different regions of Africa, helping to build secure settlements and ward off any dark creatures.

Now the Mitchells were settled in the same village as Ren with their two sons. Ten year old Joshua and seven year old Rio. Leroy had been offered his old post back at Hogwarts by Professor McGonagall and Loren was quite happy as a stay at home Mother.

" _IF YOU DON'T ANSWER ME SO HELP ME GOD I WILL COME THROUGH THIS FIREPLACE AND-"_

Thankfully at the moment Ren reached the hearth before Loren could finish her threat and she quickly submerged her head into the flames, welcoming the familiar tingling sensation which tickled her ears.

As predicted the moment Loren saw Ren's face her expression changed from annoyance to concern. _"What happened?"_ She asked in a low voice, which made Ren suspect that Joshua and Rio were nearby, and she didn't want to give away that Aunty Ren was upset. The woman in question couldn't help but choke up all over again.

" _Harry."_ Was all she could breath out, but she needn't have said anything more.

" _I'll be over in a second with wine and cake."_ Loren declared before backing out of the fireplace.

Ren did the same and grabbed her wand, summoning two wine glasses from the kitchen. No sooner had they flew into her hands then the fireplace roared into great green flames with a _'WHOOSH'_ and Loren stepped out with a chilled bottle of white wine in one hand and a plate containing a small chocolate cake in the other.

The older Witch flicked her midnight coloured hair over her shoulder as her green eyes fixed upon Ren's brown ones.

"How much time do you have?" Ren asked, understanding that Loren would likely have to get back to her family before long.

"Oh girl," Loren smirked in return. "I told Lee it's a Code Red situation, so we've got _all_ night. Now spill."

* * *

The low embers of the fire glowed ominously, bouncing off the antique furniture and casting eerie shadows over the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place. It was an hour or two past midnight, Sirius wasn't sure exactly. The only thing the Animagus was conscious of was the bottle of Firewhisky sat on the wooden table before him, and the weathered Wizarding photograph of a certain Witch in bed clutched in his hand.

His stormy grey gaze had been fixated on the photo for Merlin only knows how long. By now every detail was committed to his memory. From the way each individual chocolate curl spiralled around another to the exact positioning of the dainty hand grasping the snow white cover to her bare chest.

And he could recall the details that the photograph didn't show. Like the sound of her laugh, so pure and clear against whatever record they had had playing in the background. The feeling of her skin against his when he had thrown the camera to the side and claimed her body as his own. The way his heart swelled when she had whispered her love for him as they lay tangled together. And her sweet vanilla scent which Sirius found more intoxicating and addictive than any drug.

The man found himself clenching his jaw and pressing his eyes shut in frustration. How was it possible that these memories, which had undoubtedly been some of the happiest of his life, could bring him so much pain now?

' _Because Ren isn't here.'_ The answer flashed through his mind before he could stop it, and Sirius winced as if he had been struck around the face. Reaching for the tumbler full of amber liquid before him Sirius raised it to his lips and let the entire contents trickle down his throat in one long gulp.

"Merlin help me." He muttered to himself. He had successfully managed to repress all thoughts of Ren since his escape from Azkaban, instead choosing to focus his attention on Harry. But when he had walked in on Harry holding the box which contained his last connections to Ren, Sirius didn't know how to deal with it. They were two parts of his life which he had made the effort to keep separate for his own selfish reasons.

He knew that Harry deserved to know about his Godmother, which is why he had put up no resistance when it came to explaining who the woman was, but _fucking hell_ it had not been easy. He couldn't help but wonder what Harry would do with this new information. Anyone who knew the boy would be well aware that he wouldn't just let it go.

Before Sirius could ponder the matter any further the fireplace burst into green flames and out stepped one half of the dynamic duo that were the Weasley twins. At a glance Sirius couldn't tell which one. The twins had been staying at Grimmauld Place for the past few days after a… _minor_ explosion from a Weasley Wizard Wheezes prototype had left both the joke shop and the flat above it uninhabitable for a week or so while it was quarantined.

Fred and George hadn't exactly been eager to stay at the Burrow where their Mother would undoubtedly lecture them until the Hippogriffs came home about how dangerous and reckless they were, so Sirius had offered them his home instead and the twins had been enjoying their unexpected time off work ever since.

"Alright Sirius? Thought you were staying at that Taylor birds place tonight?" The redhead asked as the fireplace once again lit up and twin number two stepped out. Ah, one ear. That was George. So it was Fred that had spoken.

'That Taylor bird' Fred had referred to was a young, up and coming singer in the Wizarding World by the name of Taylor Tindell who had been, what the tabloids called, Sirius' 'on again off again flavour'. The nature of his and Taylor's relation had never been anything particularly serious (in his opinion anyway). Just a few dates here and a couple of shags there whenever either of them were feeling horny and lonely.

They would drift apart due to Taylors work commitments or because another attractive young lady would catch Sirius' eye, but then end up bumping into each other at a party or a club and reuniting. This, in the eyes of the media, made them soulmates who were always fated to come back to one another. Sirius thought it was all a load of bullshit really. Taylor was currently in Ireland performing a few gigs, so they were in their 'off' stage at the moment.

"That's done with for now mate." Sirius mumbled as he refilled his glass. "Either of you having a drink?" He went on to ask the twins, and by way of reply George retrieved two more tumblers from a cabinet and slid them down the table to Sirius, who poured a generous amount of whisky into each one. Fred and George sat down opposite him and both took hold of a glass.

"So why are we drowning our sorrows?" George asked.

"Yeah, to what are we toasting?" Fred added, and Sirius huffed in amusement. He had always admired the way the twins didn't beat around the bush.

"Nothing special." He sighed. "Just make sure you never fall in love lads." He didn't miss the surprised look that passed between the brothers. He didn't blame them for being shocked. If Sirius hadn't already drank nearly an entire bottle of whisky there was no way he'd open up like this.

"Bloody hell Sirius I didn't think you were _that_ into her." Fred mused.

"You could probably still get her back if you wanted. I mean if you've only just called things off she probably hasn't moved on yet." George supplied. Sirius' brow creased in confusion before he realised that they were referring to Taylor.

"Oh Merlin, not her. Not Taylor." He couldn't help but snort. "That's not love. Just a bloody good shag." At his words the twins once again gave each other a bemused glance.

"Then… who?" George asked tentatively, and by way of answer Sirius simply flicked the old photograph across the table towards them. George picked it up and held it up so that they could both admire the girl in it.

"Bloody hell," Fred murmured as George let out a low whistle. Sirius had no doubt that Ren was currently giggling and winking up at them from the film. "Who is she?" Fred went on to ask, focusing his gaze on Sirius. "-or… was she?" He added gently, clearly unsure of how to address the situation, and Sirius didn't blame him. With two Wizarding Wars under his belt it would be easy to assume that she had been killed at the hands of a dark Wizard. Just as so many other people he loved had been.

"She was or is, for all I know, Harry's Godmother." He told them.

Both Fred and Georges' jaws dropped.

"Merlin," Fred uttered in a low voice.

"Does… Does he know?" George questioned, and Sirius nodded.

"He does. But whether she's alive or not I couldn't tell him." He explained. It was unusual to see the jokesters sombre and serious, their brows creased and contemplative. Sirius wouldn't blame them for not knowing how to respond to the situation, but Fred seemed to know exactly what needed to be said, raising his glass.

"To her." He stated, and George quickly followed his brothers lead.

"To her." He echoed.

Sirius studied them, each holding their glass high. It strangely made him feel better. So much so that he slowly raised his own glass.

"To her."

 **Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you to all those who've left feedback. Keep it coming!**

 **If you want a visual of what I imagine Ren's cottage to look like I always picture it as the one from the film The Holiday that Kate Winslet's character lived in.**

 **Please be sure to fave, follow and _REVIEW_**

 **Eve x**


	6. Chapter 5

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 5_

Ren pressed the silver button which summoned the lift for what must have been the eleventh or twelfth time, her foot tapping impatiently as she did so. She had just finished her radio set and was eagerly trying to escape the Muggle Melody building so that she could go and meet Harry for brunch. 'Trying' being the key term there, as the elevator didn't seem to want to ever arrive at the fifth floor.

It had been a week since Harry and Ren had reunited, and despite owling every day since, Ren couldn't deny that she was beyond excited to see her Godson again.

"Finally!" She uttered as the doors of the lift slid open with a loud _'ding!'_ , and Ren hurried inside, immediately beginning to pummel the ground floor button with what some may have deemed unnecessary force. However just as the doors began to slide close a voice from somewhere down the corridor shouted "Hold the lift!".

Despite Ren's initial reaction to let the doors shut whilst waving merrily to whomever the poor sod was, she instead stuck her arm out between the nearly sealed doors and caused them to jolt open once again. However Ren regretted this decision almost as soon as she saw the smug face of Daniel Dalton smirking back at her. _'Great'_ She thought to herself, resisting the urge to groan aloud.

Daniel was the host of the afternoon drivetime (3pm till 7pm) slot. He was an undeniably attractive man of the age of forty, with clear blue eyes, chiselled cheekbones, pink lips which pulled back to reveal a dazzling smile and floppy brown hair which he pushed back endearingly. Despite being perfectly friendly and indisputably charming, Ren had concluded that Daniel was all too aware of his good looks.

He was, to put it frankly, a peacock. Appearance was _everything_ to him. And this was coming from a woman who had once dated Sirius Black. Daniel liked using his good looks to woo women, and he _loved_ when the media took notice of it. After having three (very public) failed marriages, Daniel had seemingly settled on bouncing from girl to girl with no real commitment being involved.

And it seemed that Ren was apparently his next target. Since she had started at Muggle Melody, Daniel had asked her out for a drink at least once a week. While at first she had been almost flattered in a weird way, now, after countless refusals and excuses, Ren just wished he would take the hint.

The truth was that Daniel reminded her of the man that Sirius, according to the media, had turned into. She didn't want that in her life.

"Good morning Ren." Daniel was saying as he joined her in the lift.

"Morning Daniel. Ground floor?" Ren replied with a smile.

"Please." At Daniels confirmation she pressed the ground floor button once again. "You're looking rather lovely this morning." The man went on to compliment, taking in her appearance as the lift began to move. She was wearing a crisp white shirt tucked into a powder blue pencil skirt and a pair of nude coloured high heeled pumps on her feet, she had her trusty patched shawl draped over her arm, ready to throw on should the temperature drop once she left the building.

"Thank you." Ren said, not wanting to invite any more conversation on that particular topic. "What are you doing here anyway? Awfully early for work aren't you?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Well I'm glad you asked. I was actually looking for you." Oh. So much for changing the subject. "I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat?" Ren tried to rearrange her features to look somewhat regretful.

"I'm sorry Daniel but I've already got lunch plans with someone. That's where I'm heading now as a matter of fact." She explained. At least this time it was a genuine excuse. Daniel, to give him his due, didn't even look the least bit crestfallen.

"Oh really?" He asked, to which Ren nodded. "With someone special?"

"Very special." Ren told him. If Daniel wanted to think she was going on a 'date' with someone special who was Ren to correct him? She wasn't _actually_ lying to him. Harry was technically someone very special to her. Just not in the way Daniel was assuming. And anyway, maybe if he thought Ren was dating someone else then he would ease up on asking her out. Win win.

"Oh, well maybe another time?" Daniel mused as the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors _'dinged!'_ open.

"Maybe. Anyway, I'll see you around Daniel." Ren said, and after Daniel had bid her a breezy farewell, she hurried out of the lift and made her way across the reception to the Floo fireplaces. Harry and Ren had agreed to meet at a quiet little café in Hogsmeade that was slightly off the beaten track, so that Harry could keep a low profile, and Ren had decided to Floo straight over there. She stepped into the next available fireplace, took hold of a pinch of Floo powder and said "The Wizards Rabbit!" as clearly as possible while throwing the Floor powder into the grate.

However just as she began to disappear into a flurry of green flames Ren looked up and happened to see Daniel standing across the lobby, arms folded across his chest and a murderous look in his blue eyes, which were fixed directly on her.

-x-

"- So yeah, in the long run I've decided that trying to prank Fred and George was an absolutely horrific idea and I don't know why we even bothered. We should have known it would only start a war!" Harry finished, and Ren couldn't hold back a cackle of amusement. The pair were sat opposite each other and had just finished snacking on some of the homemade baked goods that The Wizards Rabbit had to offer.

Harry was indulging his Godmother in the recent tales of the Harry and Ron verses Fred and George prank war saga.

He had just finished telling her about the time in which himself and Ron had been hidden underneath the invisibility cloak in the twins' bedroom in the Burrow, waiting for either one of them to make an appearance so that they could hit them with a Dancing Feet Jinx, only to quickly descend into a state of pure mortification when George had hurried into the room with his lips securely locked with Angelina Johnson's and their hands thoroughly exploring each other's bodies.

Seeing as neither one of them (Ron in particular) felt like indulging in voyeurism they had loudly burst into a state of panic, tore off the cloak and bolted from the room in humiliation. Harry still found it difficult to look Angelina in the eye since that incident.

Ren was very much enjoying herself, so much so that she had nearly spat her tea out over Harry on numerous occasions.

"Honestly you're so like your dad! James also thought that his invisibility cloak meant he would be able to get the upper hand over you. His main problem was that he didn't always seem to realise that it wasn't _soundproof._ I can't tell you the amount of times he'd give himself away during a prank because you'd just hear this stupid little giggle coming from a supposedly empty corner of the room." She told him, enjoying the way Harrys face would light up at the mention of his Father. He seemed to absorb any smidgen of information about his parents up like a sponge.

"I'm not that bad!" Harry insisted.

"I'd be worried if you were!"

"So anyway, how was work this morning?" Harry went on to ask with a shake of his head, obviously trying to steer the conversation to a topic which didn't revolve around his pranking blunders. "I listened to the show. Playing Marvin Gaye at the end was really nice, it just put a positive spin on the day." He added, and Ren decided to indulge him. The fact that he could remember that her finishing track had been _'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'_ showed that he had obviously been paying attention. She couldn't help but blush at his praise.

"Thank you." She said, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. "Yeah it all went nice and smoothly, so I can't complain. Although I had Daniel Dalton ask me out again. I'm going to have to come up with some more creative ways of turning him down because he just doesn't seem to be taking the hint." Ren said, and Harrys brows furrowed.

"Daniel Dalton? The afternoon DJ?" He queried, and Ren nodded.

"Wait did I not tell you about this?" She interrupted quickly. Truth be told each time her and Harry had met up it had been such an emotionally charged natter-fest that Ren couldn't one hundred percent recall every topic of conversation they had covered.

"No!" Harry insisted.

"Oh," Ren shrugged. "Well long story short since the first day I started at Muggle Melody Daniel has asked me out for drinks or dinner at least once a week." She explained. "I mean, can you blame him?" She added dramatically with a wink and a flip of her hair.

"Well why don't you say yes?" Harry had the nerve to ask with a cheeky grin on his face. Ren balked at him.

"I'm sure you've seen him in the headlines Harry." She stated calmly, trying to not let the boy wind her up. She didn't want to tell him that Daniel reminded her very much of a certain someone.

"I certainly have." Harry confirmed. "Mrs Weasley thinks he's very charming, even if he can be 'an utter scoundrel' at times. What's not to love?" He asked innocently.

"You're treading on thin ice Harry, I swear to God I'll-" However Ren's threat went unfinished, because at that moment a sudden bright _FLASH_ went off through the window to their left.

Both Harry and Ren spun around just in time to see a stout, grubby looking man apparating away, and neither of them failed to notice the large camera that had been clutched in his hands or the shit-eating grin plastered over his face.

Paparazzi.

This was something which Ren was struggling to come to terms with. She was _by no means_ a major star in the Wizarding community, but there had been a handful of times in which she had noticed that she was being snapped as she made her way to work or browsed through her local supermarket, or somewhere equally as trivial. A number of days later Loren would always very much enjoy pointing out her appearance in some kind of trashy magazines judgemental _'What Celebs Wear'_ column. Ren saw the whole thing as pointless. She was by no means interesting.

Harry, on the other hand, was a different story. He had always been a prominent name in the Wizarding World, but since the Second War his fame had all but skyrocketed, and it was easy to see that the boy _loathed_ it. Even now he was slumping back in his chair, letting out a defeated sigh.

"Great," He muttered, trying to flatten down his messy hair. "That'll be all over the press by this time tomorrow. They'll probably say we're dating or something ridiculous like that." Ren's heart couldn't help but break for her Godson, he just seemed so dejected.

"Harry it's okay," She tried to reassure him, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze. "It doesn't matter, they're just pictures." Harry shifted uncomfortably but didn't loosen his grip on her hand.

"I know it's just…" He trailed off, not meeting her eye, and Ren prepared herself for the worst. For some kind of explanation about why Harry didn't want to keep in touch with her from now on, now that his curiosity about his Godmother had been sated. "… It's just that I haven't told Sirius that I've met you yet." Harry eventually explained.

Although Ren felt the initial balloon of panic within her deflate in relief, another one quickly took its place. Ah. Despite everything that had happened Ren had strangely found herself not thinking about Sirius whenever her and Harry had met up. Her Godson had always been the priority. The only time thoughts of Sirius occurred in her head was at night. Her mind would fill with painful memories of the man she had loved, keeping her awake.

"Oh," Was all Ren could say. While she knew that if she wanted to stay in Harrys life it would mean addressing Sirius (Harry did live with him after all), that didn't mean she was any more prepared for the conversation.

"Yeah," Harry said, seeming to understand the meaning behind her 'oh'. "And I know that if he, or even Remus for that matter, saw the _Prophet_ tomorrow they'd be crushed that I hadn't told them." He added. Ren looked down, feeling almost guilty that Harry was in this position because of her.

Who was she to cause this rift between Harry and the people that had actually been there for him when he had needed them? She ultimately knew that if Harry had to choose between them that he would choose Sirius, and Ren expected nothing less. That didn't make it any less of a tricky situation. She knew that remaining in Harrys life would mean confronting the demons of her past, and Ren (despite being terrified) decided that she was more than willing to do so.

Harry was her priority. But Ren doubted it would be so simple. It was all well and good if she was willing to address the past, but what about Sirius? Ren had a feeling he would be in just as much denial as she was. If he hadn't even told Harry about Ren until the boy had found the only remaining evidence of her existence, then that showed that he was undoubtedly in favour of keeping their history buried deep beneath the surface. Ren sighed and braced herself.

"Look Harry, I don't want to make you choose. Y'know, this isn't a case of me or him." She began, and Harry's green eyes flickered up to meet hers, daring to look almost hopeful at her words. "I want to be in your life. More than anything. And I know that'll mean that Sirius, and Remus too, will be in _my_ life again. So, I'll be there by your side whenever you're ready to tell Sirius." She finished, and a grin broke out over Harrys face. He looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I… I didn't think you'd ever want to see him again after everything that had happened." He confessed with a shrug.

"Well the fact that he _didn't_ actually betray your parents and turn out to be a mass murderer definitely works in his favour." Ren admitted casually, and Harry laughed despite himself. He couldn't help it.

"So," He went on to say when he had stopped chuckling. "Do you… do you want to come over today? To see him?" He asked, the nerves creeping back into his voice. "I know this is probably rushing into it but we want to beat that photographer, plus we'll both probably chicken out it o-" Harry had begun to ramble in an attempt to justify his invitation but Ren cut him off.

"Okay." She interrupted quickly. Her hands were twisting with anxiety in her lap. Harry once again looked surprised. He had obviously thought that Ren would attempt to come up with a whole manner of excuses as to why she couldn't make it.

"Okay?" The boy couldn't help but clarify. "Just like that?" Now it was Ren's turn to shrug.

"Well as you said if we don't do it now we'll just come up with reasons not to." She agreed. Harry was still staring at her suspiciously, as if he didn't quite dare to believe her.

"Are you sure?"

Ren nodded, hoping that she appeared cool and collected. Whether she was nervous or not she didn't want to show that to Harry. Ren wanted to slap herself. _'Calm down woman!'_ She thought to herself. She feared that it had been too long, that too many years had passed. Ren was in no way expecting her and Sirius to pick up the pieces and go back to how they had been, nor was that what she wanted. A part of her simply hoped that they would be able to slip back into that easy friendship they had always had, long before they became a couple.

' _Wishful thinking,'_ Ren couldn't help but reckon to herself. Too much time had passed. That was the simple fact of the matter. She couldn't see Sirius wanting his ex-girlfriend of nearly twenty years ago showing up and cramping his new-found freedom, and all honesty Ren didn't want Sirius to assume that she was the same person she had been back then. She had grown up and blossomed into a woman, damn it!

Admittedly a woman that made some questionable choices every now and again, but a woman nonetheless!

The best that Ren could hope for, she decided, was a civil enough relationship in which Harry didn't feel like he was put in the middle of them, and the first step to that would be Ren rocking up out of the blue with Harry and scaring the ever-living shit out of him. Simple enough, right?

"I'm sure Harry." Ren told her Godson confidently, setting her shoulders and raising her chin with dignity. Harry still looked doubtful.

"Okay… well when do you want to go?" He went on to ask cautiously.

"Fuck it, let's go now." Ren answered abruptly, rising from her chair and beginning to throw her cape over her shoulders. Harry remained seated, staring up at her now completely dumbfounded.

"Wha- now? Are you sure?" He suddenly snapped into action and rose from his own chair.

"Yeah, if I sit around and think about it any longer, Harry, I'll undoubtedly pussy out, and even if I was only in Gryffindor for one year I want to make the damn Sorting Hat proud." She said doggedly, and Harry looked both pleased and amused by her steadfast attitude. He shrugged on his hoodie and met her stare.

"Thank you." He said. Ren couldn't help but blush. "I bet this is a pretty daunting thing to do, so… I really appreciate it." The woman tried her best to appear indifferent.

"You really are turning my life upside down." She said. "Come on, let's go." She turned towards the exit and when Harry appeared at her side Ren instinctively put her around his shoulders and gave him an affectionate squeeze.

-x-

Ren couldn't help but gawk slightly as she watched the imposingly handsome townhouse that was number 12 Grimmauld Place slowly slide into view before her very eyes. No matter how old she was Ren would always find magic wondrous.

She stared up at the building curiously, and suddenly a long forgotten memory of the first time Sirius had told her about the house in which he had grown up suddenly resurfaced and pushed its way to the forefront of her mind.

…

 _29_ _th_ _January 1979_

 _01:11am_

" _I can't believe we're finally in a house of our own." Ren mused hazily, and Sirius let out a satisfied hum of agreement. The pair lay naked in the creaky wrought iron bed in their new master bedroom, with their limbs entwined and Ren's head resting comfortably on Sirius' chest as if it was made for that place._

 _Today had been the day Ren and Sirius had got the keys for their new home. It was a poky, two bedroom terraced house in the next town over from Godrics Hollow but to Ren it was akin to a palace. It was a place her and Sirius could make a home._

 _Despite their currently being unpacked boxes taking up the majority of space in each room, the couple had invited all of their friends over for dinner, and the evening had been spent with everyone crammed together around the dining table chatting, laughing and drinking, and Ren wouldn't have changed a thing._

 _When everybody had eventually left she and Sirius had begun the task of christening each room, and having so far managed the kitchen, front room and their bedroom the couple were currently basking in mutual love and satisfaction. It had been the perfect finish to a perfect evening. "We can make this a real home Sirius," Ren was saying as the Marauder stroked her unruly curls._

" _I know," He murmured, and Ren flicked her eyes up to look at him. She could immediately tell that something was playing on his mind. His silver-grey eyes, which were fixed somewhere across the room, were distant and distracted._

" _What's up?" Ren asked softly. She knew that Sirius always took a while to process his thoughts and feelings, so Ren waited patiently for his reply._

" _I…" He began after a minute or two. "… I was just thinking about the sheer amount of love that's already been experienced in this house, just tonight alone." He reflected quietly. Ren remained silent. "And how-" Sirius continued. "-I don't think I ever experienced anything like that in the house I grew up in the whole time I lived there."_

 _Ren kept her brown eyes trained on Sirius, who eventually shifted his gaze down to look at her. She treasured these moments when he opened up about his past, as it was clear that he went out of his way to supress all memories of his childhood._

" _What was it like?" Ren questioned gently, and she felt Sirius shift. He looked away once more and fixed his gaze back on the wall ahead of them._

" _Grimmauld Place was…" He paused. "The house very much suited the people who lived inside it, let's just say that." Ren rolled herself over and propped herself up so that she was looking Sirius dead in the eye._

" _It's just a house baby." She breathed. "And you beat that house. And the people who live there."_

…

Now as Ren stared up at the house in which Sirius had suffered growing up, she had to admit that she had pictured it look a lot more… dark. Harry glanced at her, waiting for her verdict.

"Well?" He prompted.

"I have to admit, it's not what I expected." Ren confessed.

"What did you expect?"

"I thought it would be a lot more, y'know, bleak and depressing." Ren said. "Almost like the Shrieking Shack I guess." She added ruefully, and Harry laughed.

"Don't get me wrong about a year ago it definitely had more of that vibe." He admitted. "But now…" Trailing off Harry smiled. "I guess I'm actually rather fond of it." He said as they began to climb the steps leading up to the front door, Ren's heels clicking against the stone. "Sirius still wants to move out though." Harry added with a shrug.

' _I don't bloody blame him,'_ Ren couldn't help but think, looking up at the looming structure as Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the silver ornate knocker. The clicking of locks could be heard, and Harry opened the door and stepped aside. "After you." He said politely and Ren, taking a deep breath, advanced forward through the threshold and into the hallway of Grimmauld Place.

Of all the sights that she had prepared herself to be met with, a toddler with turquoise hair unsteadily propping himself up against a hideous troll foot umbrella case was most certainly not on the list.

Ren froze as the baby noticed her and fixed his wide golden eyes upon her. She couldn't help it. She was so taken aback that she could barely even register the presence on a tall redheaded Wizard and a bushy, brown haired Witch, both of whom looked to be Harry's age and seemed to be chaperoning the baby. Ren was too busy staring at said infant to notice that the boy and girl were gawking at her in much the same manner.

When Harry appeared at Ren's side, however, a huge, gummy grin appeared on the baby's face and he let out a delighted squeal of "Awweey!" before ambitiously setting off in an unsteady toddle towards the Boy Who Lived.

Harry, grinning from ear to ear, hurried over to meet the youngster and save him from the inevitable fall. He scooped up the now giggling baby and pressed his lips against his chubby cheek before blowing a loud raspberry against the soft flesh, causing an ecstatic shriek to escape from the kids' tiny little mouth.

"Hey Teddy!" Harry greeted as the baby buried his joy filled face into Harrys neck. Ren's heart swelled at the sight of her Godson with the baby, and it took her a minute or so to register his name. Teddy! This was Remus' child! Ren's jaw dropped as Harry turned to the two people across the hall from them. "You guys alright?" He asked, and at their confirmation Harry turned back to Ren, who was busy trying to pull herself together and stop gawking at the baby in his arms (who in turn was peeking over Harrys shoulder at Ren, obviously trying to size up the stranger.) "Ren," The voice addressing her managed to stir some sense into her, and Ren looked up at the trio, giving them all a charming smile.

These two were obviously Harrys closest friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They had been featured in the Daily Prophet enough for Ren to know that, even without an introduction from her Godson. "This is Ron and Hermione," Harry confirmed. "Guys this is my Godmother, Ren."

While Ren suspected that, likewise, the pair knew who she was without the need of an introduction, they both still expressed a certain degree of surprise (Ron in particular) but that was more likely down to the fact that she was stood before them in the house of her ex-boyfriend from eighteen years previous.

"It's nice to meet you both." Ren said warmly, stepping forward and offering a hand to shake. Hermione, however, surprised her. Instead of taking her outstretched hand, she pulled Ren forward into a quick hug.

"Same to you." She said with a bright smile. Her voice was clear and crisp. Ron followed his girlfriends lead and greeted Ren with a hug (although it was slightly more awkward, and his ears were tinged pink when he pulled away)

"Yeah, this is crazy!" Ron said. "I mean, you've been pretty much all that Harry's talked about for the past few weeks, but it's just weird to actually meet you!" Ren laughed and turned to her now sheepish looking Godson.

"Well that's not true." He was muttering, his eyes gluing themselves to the floor. Ren couldn't help but laugh, however she decided to spare Harry of any more embarrassment, and instead focused her attention on Teddy, who was still peeping up at her. "Oh yeah this is Teddy, as you probably heard." Harry added, jostling the baby in his arms slightly, obviously jumping at the chance to steer the conversation in a new direction. "Teddy are you going to say hello to Ren?" At Harrys words Ren crouched slightly so that she was eyelevel with the baby.

"Hello Teddy," She said in a soothing, happy voice. A switch seemed to flip in the vivacious baby, and he suddenly grinned back at Ren with zero hesitation and leant towards her, arms outstretched as he began to coo at her.

"You want a cuddle?" Harry asked as Teddy wiggled and squirmed towards her.

"I don't think I've got much of a choice." Ren joked, reaching for Teddy and happily taking him into her arms. The baby immediately settled and looked up at the woman holding him curiously.

Before she even realised what she was doing, Ren found herself making faces down at him, and this seemed to please Teddy greatly and he began to giggle and grab at her curls. "Honestly I swear all babies seem to love curly hair. It's like a magnet! They just can't help but try and get hold of it. I'm sure you understand Hermione," She said with a smile, and the others laughed as Hermione nodded intently.

"Oh yeah, I know the feeling of having your hair yanked out all too well." The girl replied.

"He's always seems to like meeting new people, but he's really taken with you." Ron observed as they all admired Teddy draping Ren's chocolate curls over his own little shoulders. Ren began to bob and bounce gently which Teddy also seemed to enjoy if the streams of laughter were anything to go by.

"I guess I've had a lot of practice." Ren mused. "I've got a huge family. Someone's always popping out a baby." The others laughed. Ron had just opened his mouth to reply when the sound of footsteps coming towards them from the open doorway behind himself and Hermione interrupted him.

Before Ren even had time to register anything, she watched as a man she hadn't seen in eighteen years climbed his way into view.

Despite the time Ren still recognised him instantly. His sandy hair was now streaked with grey and a greater number of scars marred his handsome face, but it was undeniably Remus Lupin. The first real friend Ren had made when she had moved to Hogwarts. The sight of him caused Ren to freeze, much to Teddy's annoyance.

"Where's that boy of mine?" Remus had been saying as he climbed the stairs towards them, not yet having spotted Ren as his attention had fixed on Hermione and Ron. "I can't help but get suspicious when I hear that laugh, it usually means he's up to something- oh hey Harry, when did you get ba-" Remus' attention had passed over Harry and when his eyes focused on Ren she swore she could hear her own heart beating in the dead silence that followed.

Remus stared at her like a deer caught in Muggle headlights, his mouth gaping open, and all Ren could do was stare back as Teddy grumbled about his new playmate seemingly forgetting about him. Ren wasn't exactly shocked by Remus' reaction. He hadn't seen her in eighteen years and suddenly here she was holding his baby. _Surprise!_

"I," She stuttered, trying to get a grip on herself. "Hi." Was all she could settle on in the end, and at that moment Teddy spotted his father.

"Dadeee!" He cried gleefully, and Ren immediately knew that was her call to let him go. She carefully crouched down and place Teddy on the ground, helping him steady himself before the baby set off and toddled over to Remus.

However, the Werewolf in question still seemed to be in some sort of trance. Only when Teddy reached him and grabbed onto his trouser leg did Remus seem to jolt back into reality. "Dadee!" Teddy shouted again, obviously unimpressed that he was no longer the centre of attention, but Hermione soon came to the rescue. She hurried forward and diverted Teddy's attention, picking him up. "Shall we go and find Mummy Ted? Huh? Does that sound good?"

The magic word 'mummy' successfully pushed Remus from his sons' mind, so Hermione, after flashing a quick glance at the remaining party, hurried past Remus and down the stairs from which he had come with Teddy in her arms and Ron following her.

Harry, it seemed, had also decided to leave the pair alone. He flashed a quick glance in Ren's direction before swiftly disappearing down the stairs after his friends. Ren wanted to shout at Harry to get his arse back there! He was just leaving her?! She knew that she had said she was going to confront the people from her past, but Ren thought Harry would at least be there to hold her hand through it! The little shit! Ren's breathing sped up as Remus opened his mouth to speak.

"Ren…" Was all it seemed he could say, but Ren suddenly felt the need to stop him. She needed to be the one to speak first.

"Remus I'm sorry." She blurted out before he had a chance to say anything else. "For leaving you." She clarified. "I should have stayed. Stayed with you after…" Ren couldn't say it. She felt herself cracking as her courage seemed to slip through her fingers and trickle away.

Merlin she must have looked pathetic, standing in the threshold and stumbling over an apology that was eighteen years too late. "I shouldn't have run, we could have got through it together." Her voice was all but a whisper. "I should have been brave."

Ren could barely meet Remus' golden eyes. Eyes that were so familiar to her. Eyes from which she had seen every emotion at some point or another. Eyes that now looked remarkedly composed, which only succeeded in unsettling Ren even further.

She trailed off and looked down at her heels, trying her best to blink back tears. She heard Remus' footsteps approaching and suddenly a worn pair of brogue boots appeared in Ren's line of vision, toe to toe with her nude pumps. Ren took a deep, unsteady breath and slowly looked up. His eyes were no longer composed, but instead filled with emotion. Sadness, relief, but most importantly warmth.

"I've never thought I'd see you again." Was all he said before reaching out and enveloping the brunette in a hug. A hug which was enough to trigger the tears that had been welling up in not only Ren's eyes, but Remus' too.

-x-

Ren wrapped her hands around the mug Remus had placed before her, allowing the heat to thread through her fingers as if it was her lifeline. She was sat in the basement kitchen with Harry beside her and Remus taking the seat opposite next to his wife Tonks.

Tonks, it seemed, had been shocked but nevertheless over the moon to see Ren. Apparently the few memories the Metamorphmagus had of Ren had been sweet ones, so she was thrilled with the impromptu reunion. Teddy was perched on his Mothers' lap and Ron and Hermione had sat themselves beside Harry.

All eyes, however, were undeniably on Ren.

However when she subconsciously took a sip of her drink Ren found herself instantly relaxing. After all this time Remus still remembered how she took her tea. She had half expected him to slip something in there, so the lack of poison was reassuring to say the least.

"So," Remus said as Teddy clambered onto his lap. "How the hell has Ren ended up here Harry?" He asked, his eyes flicking to the boy in question. The Boy Who Lived flushed before sending Ren a sheepish smile which she found herself returning.

"After you," She said, and so Harry began to explain from the very beginning. Even though Ren knew the story she listened attentively, as did Ron and Hermione. When Harry had finished with the events of that afternoon Remus sat back and stretched while Tonks let out a low whistle, showing just how impressed she was.

"Well Ren…" Remus said. "Regardless of how you wound up being here, I'm just glad you did." He shrugged, and Ren smiled.

"Honestly Remus I thought you were going to hate me." She expressed. The Werewolf dropped his gaze at her words.

"I tried to." He confessed. Ren sucked in her breath, feeling the tension in the room mount. "I really did try to hate you when you left Ren. I resented that you had ran away but at the same time I couldn't blame you at all. No one should have had to put up with what you were dealing with."

"I said you should have come with me." Ren replied, her voice soft as she tried to refrain from allowing tears to blossom in her eyes once more. It was as if they were the only two people in the room. Remus looked away from her again, his fingers running through Teddy's curls.

"A part of me wishes I had."

…

 _Sunday 8_ _th_ _November 1981_

 _5:24pm_

 _Remus stood before the terraced house in Alloway Grove, staring hard at the cherry red front door. He had been rooted to the same spot for at least ten minutes already, simply studying the house which up until a week ago Remus had considered his second home._

 _A week. That was how long it had been since the 'great defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named', as people were calling it. They were the people who were still celebrating with their loved ones._

 _But that wasn't Remus. His loved ones were dead. To him it had been a week since his world had come crumbling down around him. A week since James and Lily had been murdered. A week since a now orphaned Harry had been taken from them. A week since Peter had been killed for standing up to his best friend. A week since discovering that said best friend had betrayed them all and was the reason for all this unbearable heartbreak._

 _A week since… since Ren had become a shell of herself. She had already been struggling immensely since losing her baby after the break in, but discovering that her partner had been on the side of Voldemort all along… it was too much._

 _Remus slowly climbed the steps to the house and used his own Muggle key to unlock the door. The whole building had a different aura now, and as he stepped inside Remus felt it wash over him in a wave of heartbreak, anger and misery._

 _As he pushed the door closed he had to pause and take a moment to gather himself, his grip clenching around the doorknob in frustration. This wasn't fair._

 _When he had regained his composure Remus began to climb the stairs to the upstairs landing, trying his best to ignore the now empty walls which had previously been decorated with pictures of the happy couple who occupied the house and their loved ones. Ren had taken it upon herself to destroy any physical reminders of Sirius. Remus tried to suppress the memory of her harrowing screams and sobs as Ren had blasted the photos, clothes and mementos with curse after curse (although he suspected she hadn't obliterated all the photo albums)._

 _He suspected that Ren would be in bed. After spending the past week proving herself innocent of knowing anything about Sirius' betrayal along with Remus, and begging Dumbledore to take Harry from Lily's family and allow her to raise him all to no avail, Ren was both physically and mentally exhausted._

 _When Remus reached the master bedroom he peered inside and did indeed spy Ren, but she was not in bed as he had expected, instead she was crouched on the floor beside her wardrobe, a suitcase open beside her. She was packing. Remus' heart dropped._

 _He pushed the door open, and at the creak of the hinges Ren jumped and spun around towards the source of the noise, however her body sagged with relief only slightly when she saw who the visitor was. Remus stepped inside the bedroom as Ren did her best to fix him with a steely resolve._

 _She looked awful. Her curls, normally bouncing with life, were limp and deflated. Her usually glowing skin was grey and ashy. But her eyes were the worst. Her eyes were simply dead._

" _I can't take it anymore Remus." She rasped, obviously trying to sound assertive but instead reminding the Werewolf of a frightened child. "I don't want to have to live like this. With people always watching and judging me. People thinking I was in on it! I want out!" She croaked, tears now falling down her gaunt cheeks. "That's how my own family is treating me." At that admission Ren shook her head as Remus moved forward and joined her on the floor. "If we can't have Harry then what's the point of living like that? What do I have to stay and be strong for?" Ren pleaded with him. Remus reached out and took her hands in his own._

" _Me," He whispered managing to look her in the eyes, his own tears escaping now as well. His reply caused sobs to wrack Ren's body. After a moment or two she sniffed and squeezed his hands._

" _Come with me," She pleaded. "We can start a new life together. Somewhere no one knows us."_

 _Remus let out a sigh. He couldn't. With his Mother passing away the previous year he simply didn't have it in him to leave his Father to live completely alone. He didn't know how to express this to Ren. Remus didn't want it to seem like he was choosing between them but… wasn't that exactly what he was doing?_

 _Instead he gently pulled his hands from Ren's._

 _The look that overcame her face broke his heart. She knew his answer._

…

"In all honesty Ren, I- I thought you'd hate me." Remus admitted, much to Ren's surprise.

"Remus I could never hate you. We both did what was best for us." She told him. "And I mean, if you had come with me you may not have had this beautiful family here." Ren nodded to Tonks, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Tonks was watching her husband with the upmost love and devotion in her baby blue eyes. Her gaze them flashed to Ren.

"Well you're part of this family now Ren." She said simply.

"No matter what." Harry confirmed.

"Oh you mean no matter how Sirius reacts?" Ren asked with a wry smirk, trying to keep her tone light-hearted despite the uncomfortable twist in her stomach at the thought of the Animagus.

"Pretty much." Harry said. "Where is he anyway Remus? Is he in?" He went on to ask.

"He is, but the fact that you've managed to smuggle his ex-girlfriend into his house _and_ we've all managed to sit and have a cuppa together without him even noticing is questionable." Remus mused, and even Ren couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else.

"I think he's in the garden working on his bike." Tonks said.

"-Or Sunbathing." Ron added, but Ren was too busy gawking at Tonks.

"His bike? Please tell me it's not that same old Triumph!" She exclaimed, and Remus chuckled.

"The very same." He confirmed, to which Ren's jaw dropped.

"Jesus he really doesn't like change, does he?" She carped.

"He's always tinkering away but I'm not sure there's anything more he could do to it." Hermione giggled.

"Honestly it was like I was in a relationship with him _and_ that bike at times. Nice to see how times changed." Ren rolled her eyes and Tonks let out a cackle

"Well if anything's going to stop Sirius from wanking-" she began, placing her hands over Teddys ears. "-over that bike, it'll be his hot ex-girlfriend waltzing on out there to say hello."

 **We're so close to Ren and Sirius reuniting! Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that but it'll be worth the wait ;)**

 **I was very excited to reintroduce Remus into Ren's life! They had been so close before that I felt like this reunion would be just as important, plus I enjoyed giving you guys a look at _why_ Remus and Ren lost touch in that little flashback scene. I hope it clears up any questions you guys may have had.**

 **Also what do we think of Daniel Dalton? I picture him as Hugh Grant in all his prime (I couldn't resist naming him Daniel after his character in Bridget Jones' Diary seeing as he was pretty much my inspo, haha)**

 **On another note I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who's left any kind feedback, particularly the reviews (especially some of the more recent ones) they're so lovely and I appreciate your kind words so much. PLEASE KEEP EM COMING!**

 **Eve x**

 **P.S. PLEASE FOLLOW/FAVE/ REVIEW**


	7. Chapter 6

**Who's ready?**

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 6_

Sirius reclined in the wicker patio chair and let out a content sigh, pushing his aviator sunglasses back up his nose and turning his face towards the bright spring sunshine. He had spent the morning in the back garden tinkering with his bike, and was now taking, what was in his opinion, a well deserved break.

Truth be told the term 'garden' didn't really suit the space in which Sirius was relaxing, it was more of an enclosed courtyard. He was sat on a stone patio which stepped down onto a narrow strip of grass, and the whole area was bordered by tall brick walls which had ivy growing up them in spindly strands. It wasn't much, and Sirius would have loved a bigger garden for Teddy to play in when the Lupins visited, but the space allowed him to work on his bike in privacy and have easy access to the road through the narrow ally and iron gate down the side of the house.

Sirius glanced over to the machine in question. Since Hagrid had returned it to him at the end of the War he had been readjusting it to his own needs, not those of a half giant. All in all, however, Hagrid had kept it in very good condition (Sirius had been all too eager to get rid of that bloody sidecar though).

The Marauder didn't know how he was going to keep his mind occupied once his maintenance of the bike was complete, but for now he tried not to worry about that. He shook the thoughts from his head and resumed his sunbathing position, closing his eyes to protect them from the suns rays.

Right now life was good.

In three days the Quidditch League play offs began and Sirius would be commentating along with Eric O'Byrne, that morning he had received an owl from Taylor saying that she would be back in the country in a weeks' time and that they should meet up for a _'drink'_ when she was, and to top it all off Harry had seemed to have completely moved on from the discovery of his Godmother, as he hadn't mentioned her once since her discovery.

Life, indeed, was good.

Perhaps Sirius would go for a drink that evening… The good weather made him yearn to be sat in a beer garden with a chilled pint of cider in hand. Maybe he could persuade Remus to join him, Sirius was sure Tonks wouldn't mind. Or maybe Hagrid?

"Sirius?" Harry's voice sounded from the patio door that lead into the drawing room, interrupting Sirius' planning process, but the Animagus didn't open his eyes. He remained reclined towards the sun, enjoying the warmth on his face. He did however raise a hand in greeting towards the doorway.

"Alright kid?" He called out. "You had a good morning? What have you been up to?"

"Uhhhh…" At Harry's unsure exclamation Sirius furrowed his brows and sat up to look at him. However the second he looked in his Godsons direction Sirius very much wished he hadn't. His jaw dropped and he felt the air leave his body as if Harry had walked over and punched him in throat.

If Sirius' eyes weren't deceiving him, _Ren Gallagher_ was standing beside Harry, looking positively terrified.

So much for Harry forgetting about his Godmother! If that was the case Sirius wouldn't be sat there looking like a deer in headlights! Even though his body was frozen in place his mind was spinning. What was she doing here?! Or was Sirius simply hallucinating? Yes that must have been it! How on Earth would Harry have been able to track her down?

' _Don't be fucking stupid. That's her alright. The genuine article. The real deal.'_ Sirius thought as he gawked at her.

Despite the eighteen long years between that moment and the last time he had seen her, Sirius couldn't deny that Ren looked _beautiful_. She still had the brunette hair that she would always describe as unruly and unmanageable, but all Sirius had always seen were lustrous curls that bounced as she walked. She still had eyes that were as rich as molasses and just as liquid, only now they were framed perfectly by faint lines of age.

She was dressed in a crisp white shirt, a sky blue pencil skirt and nude high heels. It was completely different from the band t-shirts and ripped jeans Sirius remembered her living in, but she was a woman now and her appearance reflected that perfectly. However as they stared at each other all Sirius could see was the girl he had fallen in love with at Hogwarts. She was still that person. He could tell.

"Surprise!" Tonks voice sounded from behind Ren and Harry, and it was only then that Sirius noticed his cousin stood in their wake alongside Ron, Hermione and Remus, who was holding Teddy. Sirius caught Remus' gaze but the Werewolf only shrugged and gave him a rueful smile, so he turned back to Harry and Ren.

"Hi Sirius," The woman said, her breath shaken.

Her voice was the same. That warm but husky tone struck a chord with Sirius as he listened to her say his name for the first time in nearly two decades. He had missed the way she said it. He had missed her voice in general. The photographs did nothing to preserve the memory of the voice which he remembered could sing so sweetly. In all honesty Sirius had began to forget what she sounded like.

"Ren," Was all he managed to choke out. He turned to the boy beside her. "Harry- what…" Trailing off, Sirius glanced down and slowly removed the sunglasses from his face before looking up again. He did not miss the intake of breath from Ren, and he suspected that neither did anyone else. "What are you doing here?"

His attention had diverted back to Ren and he had directed the question to her. He had tried his best to not sound too abrupt but Sirius wasn't sure if he had been successful or not, because at his words Ren stiffened and straightened herself up.

"Harry found me." She said simply, although Sirius could have figured that much out for himself. He should have known that the boy wouldn't have just left the matter alone. It just wasn't in his nature.

Sirius forced himself to look away as his jaw clenched in annoyance. He couldn't really blame his Godson but a part of him wished that Harry had taken _his_ feelings into consideration. Did Harry not even think that seeing Ren again after all these years would tear his newly mended heart in two all over again?

The Animagus took a deep breath in order to steady himself.

No.

He couldn't be mad at Harry. He _wouldn't_ blame him. When Sirius looked to the boy he could see that Harry was terrified for his reaction, obviously waiting with bated breath to see whether Sirius would lose his temper, and it seemed the rest of their little audience felt the same. All eyes were on the three-way stand off between Sirius, Harry and Ren. Tonks was even peeking through her fingers as if she was watching one of those Muggle horror films. Sirius forced out a weak chuckle.

"I guess I should have known he would." He managed to say, aware of the fact he was speaking through gritted teeth. He looked at Ren as he spoke, and Sirius could tell that she knew he wasn't exactly pleased. The almost hopeful expression she had worn on her face faded away and instead settled into a stony stare.

This was too much for Sirius. A wave of nausea washed over him suddenly.

"Now if you'll excuse me-" He tore his eyes away from Ren's. If he stared into them any longer he feared he would indeed be sick there and then. "-I'm going to go to the bathroom." Sirius excused himself weakly and stepped forward, making to move past the party. Namely the two people heading it.

Sirius fixed his eyes to the floor as he passed Ren in the doorway, but he wasn't quick enough to escape the scent of vanilla which he was intoxicatedly attracted to from meeting his nose. He faltered slightly when it did so but soon redoubled his pace in an attempt to get away from the group.

"Well that went well." Sirius heard Ron say as he stalked through the drawing room and into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him.

-x-

His fingers gripped the marble basin so fiercely that Sirius feared he could well break it. He was bracing himself in the bathroom on the top floor of Grimmauld Place opposite his and Regulus' bedrooms, having just finished throwing up the contents of his stomach. Although the nausea had now subsided Sirius could feel the mother of all migraines blooming to take its place.

Wonderful. Simply fucking wonderful.

Sirius had never imagined that seeing Ren again would cause this reaction within him, but the sickness he was dealing with was nothing compared to the anger he felt. Anger because Sirius completely understood that Ren and himself would never be able to pick up where they had left off, and yet his body still couldn't handle seeing her.

For all he knew Ren was probably married with a brood of her own children to look after. It wasn't like Sirius had stuck around downstairs to find out. His anger now threatened to overwhelm him. The thought of some other wizard taking _his_ place made his blood boil.

Perhaps that was why Sirius had simply tried to convince himself that Ren was probably dead after all these years. Because while the idea of her being dead filled him with a gut wrenching sadness, it was easier for him to process than the white hot anger that he was now experiencing at the thought of Ren moving on and living her life while he had been _rotting_ away in Azkaban for a crime he hadn't committed!

Sirius released the sink from his grip and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, pulling at the strands so hard that clumps came loose.

What kind of person was he for thinking that?! How could he be angry at her for living her life?

' _Because she lived it without you.'_

A tear slipped down Sirius' cheek but he quickly wiped it away, and then brutally pressed the balls of hands into his eyes in order to prevent any more of the traitorous tears from falling. After a few moments he slid his hands down his face, studying himself in the mirror that hung on the wall before him.

Sighing, Sirius realised he needed to stop this and think of Harry. It was clear that the boy wanted both Sirius and Ren in his life, or else he wouldn't have brought her here. He couldn't exactly make Harry choose between them. What kind of monster would that make him? Sirius loved Harry too much to put him through that. He knew he was going to have to put his Godson's feelings before his own frustration, sadness and anger.

"Get a grip, Black." Sirius muttered to himself. He would go back down there and… he didn't know, sit and have a cup of tea with this ridiculous fucked up family, because he knew that's what Harry would want. "Yeah, tea. I can do tea. Tea with Ren. Tea is fine." Sirius attempted to hype himself up.

He grabbed hold of the handle and pulled the door open with renewed vigour, determined to be a good Godfather to Harry, however when he marched onto the landing and saw the object of his dreams (now turned nightmares) Ren Gallagher sitting at the top of the stairs, quite obviously waiting for him, Sirius very much felt like turning around and running back into the bathroom to hide.

In fact that sounded like a wonderful idea. He spun around, but it was too late. Ren had spotted him.

"Don't you fucking dare!" She exclaimed when she saw Sirius scurrying back into the bathroom. He saw her leaping up and dashing across the landing in an attempt to stop the forty year old man from hiding from her, but she was too slow.

Sirius managed to slam the door close just as Ren threw her body against it, grabbing the doorknob and rattling it. Her weight managed to unlatch the door and jolt it open slightly, but Sirius was still pushing against it with all of his might. "Sirius Orion Black you better open this pissing door! NOW!" Ren seethed through the small open gap, and the anger in her voice only made Sirius more determined to hide.

"No!" He retaliated, straining against the door to keep it shut as it quaked and rattled under the pressure. Merlin he had forgotten how strong Ren was.

"This is ridiculous! Open. The. Door!" She punctured each word with an almighty shove, but Sirius managed to hold the door close by the grace of Godric himself it seemed.

"NO!" He shouted again, knowing it was a pitiful argument but he didn't trust himself to say anything else.

"Jesus Christ you're pathetic!" Ren screeched, and these words seemed to flick a switch in Sirius.

He grabbed the door handle and wrenched the door open so suddenly that Ren, who was still pressing all of her weight against the frame, was barrelled forward straight into Sirius, but the man didn't even wait for Ren to steady herself before he started bellowing at her at the top of his lungs.

"I'm pathetic?! Oh I'm so fucking sorry! How the hell did you think I would react to seeing _you_ waltz into _my_ home?!" He all but roared. "Did you expect me to embrace you with open fucking arms?! Are you really that idiotic to think that everything would be fine between us?!"

"I'M NOT HERE FOR YOU!" Ren shrieked back, visibly shaking with rage, Sirius felt as if she had punched him in the gut.

He fell silent and the pair stood there, inches from each other, staring into each others eyes and panting heavily. "I'm not here for you Sirius," Ren repeated, although this time her voice was quiet and breathless. "Do you think I don't realise that it's too late for us? I was well aware that coming here, seeing you, would be… be horrible for both of us, but," Ren paused. She looked down and took a deep breath. "I'm here for Harry."

At her words Sirius looked away. He had already known everything she had said to be true, but it still hurt. A part of him wished she _was_ there for him instead of Harry. He forced himself to look at her and it seemed that she was doing the same. Grey eyes met brown. "Harry found me. And… I think he wants me to be in his life." She said. "And I know that me being in his life means you being in mine again… and me in yours, and that's going to be-" she swallowed. "-really fucking hard for both of us."

' _That's putting it lightly.'_ Sirius thought. "But I really want to try." Ren finished, and Sirius sighed.

"You're right." He said gruffly.

He was unsure of what else to say and after a few moments of silence Ren seemed to take that as a dismissal, for she gave him a weak smile and slowly turned, making her way towards the staircase. "Wait!" Sirius jolted after her, not meaning for her to leave. Without even thinking he grabbed her hand in order to stop her.

The spark that Sirius felt at the touch of her skin was something he hadn't experienced for eighteen long years, and it startled him so much that he dropped her hand and leapt away from her. Ren doing the same led him to believe that she had felt it too. They both seemed to think better of mentioning it though. _'Say something, Black!'_ He thought to himself in a frenzy. _'Something. Anything! Just don't let her leave!'_

Sirius gulped. "How… How about Puddlemere United eh? What a game they played on Monday."

… Quidditch? Out of all the things he could have said his brain settled on _Quidditch?!_ Ren was clearly baffled as well if the flabbergasted look on her face was anything to go by. _'I'm going to go and find the nearest bridge and throw myself off it.'_ Sirius thought. Ren faced him fully and shrugged slightly as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I suppose. But if you ask me Walters missed a few easy shots. Despite the win they could have done with the extra points to put as much distance between them and the Harpies as possible." She said nonchalantly.

Sirius couldn't help himself. He grinned at her. It was the first proper smile he'd given since Ren had set foot in the house, and the woman in question couldn't seem to resist smiling back at him. "Am I wrong?" She asked coyly, one sculpted brow raised, to which Sirius let out a low chuckle.

"No you're not." He agreed, feeling himself relax. For the first time he looked at her and could see past the sadness, guilt and resentment that had clouded his vision. Maybe… Maybe they were still the same people.

Ren also seemed to have a reflective glint in her eye, but she dismissed it and cleared her throat.

"I should probably go." She said. "I'm going to my sisters for tea." She added by way of explanation.

"Vanessa?" Sirius asked before he could stop himself. It was peculiar to think about Ren's family. All these years he had spent thinking of Ren and yet he hadn't passed much thought on the Gallagher family. "How is she?" He questioned when Ren nodded in confirmation.

"She's good. Married now with two beautiful daughters. She runs her own little fashion boutique in Diagon Ally." She added. Sirius wondered if Ren was trying to steer clear from the subject of marriage and kids on purpose.

"Really?"

"Yeah. _'Beyond the Ally'_ it's called." Ren explained. Huh. A part of Sirius struggled to see Vanessa being anything but the slightly bratty teenage girl she had been when Sirius had first met Ren. He almost wished he hadn't asked about Vanessa because he now wanted to know about the rest of her family. Her brother Ollie. Her parents Emmett and Violet. Her cousins Lennie and Dexter (who were just two of many). Even her crazy Aunty Brenda.

What had become of them? "Anyway-" Ren began to excuse herself once again but Sirius stopped her. Again.

"Come for a drink with me." He blurted out before he could even stop himself. Ren looked surprised by his proposal, so Sirius did his best to justify it before she could decline. "We… we need to talk. I- I want to know about you." It sounded rather pathetic when he put bit like that but Sirius didn't know how else to explain himself. Ren studied him for only a moment or two before responding, but to Sirius it felt like an eternity.

"Tomorrow night?" She simply asked, causing a wave of relief to wash over Sirius. He didn't think he could handle her rejection.

"Tomorrow night." He confirmed. "How about the Beaufort at the Savoy? Eight o'clock?" He suggested, naming the first Muggle bar that popped into his head. He didn't think meeting at a Wizarding establishment would end well.

"Okay. I'll see you there." Was all Ren said, and with a final glance she turned and began to descend the stairs.

Sirius simply stood there, completely shell shocked.

' _Well,'_ He thought. _'This is going to be interesting.'_

 **So what do we think of the reunion? _REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW_** **and let me know!  
**

 **Just to let you know my uni work is really heating up and I need to focus on that, so I wanted to get this out to you so that I won't have to worry for a while. I'll hopefully get another chapter out before Christmas.**

 **Eve x**


	8. Chapter 7

**Happy New Year! Enjoy!**

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 7_

Ren smoothed out the black material that flowed down her body and gave herself a final onceover in the tall mirror that was stood against her bedroom wall.

She would have much preferred to be meeting Sirius in some dingy pub, because then at least she would have been able to get away with wearing a casual t-shirt and jeans. But Ren knew for a fact that a t-shirt and jeans wouldn't exactly fit in at the Beaufort, what with it being part of the Savoy Hotel.

This was why Ren was currently studying herself in a black, sleeveless dress which fell to her knees. The material clung to her body, and she had cinched in her waist with a thin golden belt that matched the dainty chain which hung from her neck, dipping into her cleavage in a tantalising manner.

To put it frankly, Ren knew she looked good. Her argument was that if she was going to be spending the evening with her ex-boyfriend, who's current reputation was that of the 'Wizarding World's Most Eligible Batchelor', Ren wanted to look bloody hot! _'Show him that I've still got it too,'_ A dark part of her mind thought as she tousled her curls, but she immediately dismissed that line of thinking, wanting to slap herself for letting the thought occur.

"Don't even go there," Ren muttered to herself. This evening was simply about Sirius and herself rebuilding enough of a relationship so that they could both be in Harry's presence with the minimal amount of awkwardness.

Just as Ren finished making sure that her bronzed eye makeup was to her liking, she heard a _'WHOOSH'_ of flames from the fireplace downstairs. _'That'll be Loren with my shoes,'_ she thought, and sure enough a moment later she heard the cry of her name from the familiar voice of her best friend. "Upstairs!" Ren shouted back, and in less than a minute Loren Mitchell appeared at the top of the stairs. The Witch froze when she saw Ren and then let out a low whistle.

"Dear Merlin, Ren!" She exclaimed when Ren turned to face her. "You look like a million galleons!" And Ren let out a chuckle at the compliment.

"Cheers love," She said, smiling wryly. "You got the shoes?" By way of answer Loren held up the heels in her hand, Ren's favourite shoes that she owned. Her black Christian Louboutin stilettos, which had been a gift to her from her parents on her 32nd birthday in 1993, the year the now signature red soled shoes were first released.

Over the years Ren had developed quite the love for high heels. She didn't know how to explain it, but whenever she wore a heel Ren simply felt like she could take on the world. They just gave her a bizarre surge of confidence.

By now she had built up quite the collection of shoes, and Loren (who had the same size feet as Ren) was granted complete free reign to the collection provided the shoes were returned in the same condition in which she had been leant them. She had borrowed Ren's beloved red bottomed shoes to wear for her and Leroy's wedding anniversary.

As she took the heels from Loren's hands Ren was pleased to see that they looked practically perfect.

"So where the hell are you off to looking so good? Have you finally met someone?" Loren asked, flopping down onto the bed as Ren stepped into the shoes. She straightened up and turned back to the mirror, pretending to inspect how the shoes went with the dress when in all honesty she was simply trying to buy time. Although she knew about Harry, Ren had been trying to figure out the best way to tell Loren that she had seen Sirius yesterday, and that they were meeting up tonight.

Due to how dramatic Loren was, Ren could envision no scenario which didn't end with Loren going crazy. It was just how she was. Ren figured she might as well just say it outright and get it out the way. There was no point pussyfooting around it.

"I'm meeting Sirius tonight." She said, catching Loren's eyes in the mirror. The woman froze. It was at least thirty seconds later before she said anything.

"Sirius as in… haven't seen him in eighteen years, Sirius?" She asked slowly.

"How many other Sirius' do we know?"

"Sirius as in… wrongfully spent twelve years in Azkaban and then became the first person to ever escape, Sirius?" Loren went on to question, completely ignoring Ren.

"No the Sirius that works down the off-license." Ren carped, now knowing that Loren wasn't listening to a word she was saying.

"Sirius as in… is now a free man who's in the news every other day with a different girl on his arm, Sirius?"

"Yes Loren _, that_ Sirius!" Ren shouted, rounding on Loren, who looked completely shell shocked.

" _Why?!"_ She shouted back, sitting up completely, and Ren let out an exasperated sigh.

"For Harry!" Ren argued, causing Loren to screw up her face in confusion. "No hear me out Loren!-" She began to defend herself before Loren had a chance to interrupt. "- I want to be in my Godson's life! I've missed too much to not fully commit myself now, but to do that I'll have to see Sirius!"

"But you haven't seen each other in eighteen years!

"Ehh- well that's not strictly true." Ren said sheepishly. "We saw each other yesterday." She admitted. Loren let out a strangled gasp.

"You saw him yesterday?! Why didn't you tell me?!" She demanded, grabbing a pillow and hurling it at Ren.

"I'm telling you now!"

"Yeah, a full twenty four hours after the crime occurred!"

"Oh don't be so dramatic Loren. You're the first person I've told! Even though I saw Nessa straight after." This seemed to placate Loren, her body relaxed slightly.

"Well… why did you see him?" She questioned. "What the fuck made you want to do that so suddenly?"

"Because of that!" Ren spat, pointing to an open glossy magazine that sat on the bedside table. Loren's brows furrowed and she reached over and picked up the copy of Witch Weekly and began to read the article the page was open on.

" _The Boy Who Loved?_

 _Harry Potter, 19, Spotted with Muggle Melody's Renee Gallagher, 38!_

 _Article by Andrea Armstrong_

 _Since defeating the darkest Wizard ever known little over one month ago, it seems that our beloved Boy Who Lived is swiftly moving on to a new adventure!_

 _Despite apparently already being in a devoted relationship with a Miss Ginevra Weasley (sister of Ronald Weasley) yesterday Harry Potter was spotted looking cosy with none other than Renee Gallagher, the newest DJ on the block for Muggle Melody, who is 20 years older than Mr Potter!_

 _Pictured below you can see the pair enjoying each other's company in the secluded coffee shop, The Wizards Rabbit. Now while this could be an innocent friendship, we here at Witch Weekly, dear readers, can't help but think otherwise._

 _A source close to Mr Potter has exclusively revealed that the pair met at a small party celebrating the one month anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, and that there was an instant connection between them._

" _Ginevra is heartbroken, and Ron is furious!" Our source reveals. "The Weasleys have treated Harry as family for as long as they've known him and now he's meeting up with another woman behind Ginevra's back. It's the ultimate betrayal."_

 _So what do you think? Has Harry Potter found new love in a woman 20 years his senior? Or will he return to the arms of his childhood sweetheart should it all end in tears? Mr Potter, Ms Gallagher and Miss Weasley have all been contacted for comment but are yet to respond."_

Of all the reactions Ren expected from Loren she didn't expect a snort of amusement. She gave Loren a sharp look.

"Sorry, it's just that they've done you no favours. You look like a right perv, going for someone twenty years younger than you. You're a right cougar!" She giggled and Ren stared at her in disbelief. Seriously?

"Right, thanks for that." Ren deadpanned, snatching the magazine from Loren and launching it across the room. It landed on top of the pillow that Loren had thrown moments before.

"And that bullshit article is why you had to see Sirius… how?" Loren asked after she had finished grinning at Ren's immature retaliation.

"Because we saw someone take that picture and we knew it would be in a magazine by the next day, and… Harry didn't want that to be the way Sirius discovered that he had found me." Ren shrugged. "So we went to his house. I saw Remus as well." She added.

"Oh man," Loren murmured, seeming to realise the gravity of the situation. "How did it go anyway? Seeing them again, I mean." Ren gently sat down on the bed beside her.

"As well as you'd probably expect. I mean, Sirius hid in the bathroom and we had a right old shouting match." She said.

"That… doesn't sound like it went well at all." Loren replied, sounding confused.

"No it doesn't." Ren agreed after a moment of consideration. "But we calmed down eventually and agreed to meet up tonight, so I guess there's some hope of us being cohesive Godparents to Harry at least."

Loren was watching her best friend with a steady gaze, and Ren knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to analyse her, trying to figure out the physiological reason Ren would put herself through the pain of seeing the people from her past again. Was there more to it than just being there for Harry? "Loren," Ren whispered, sounding dejected. "It's _just_ for Harry." She said again. "Not for Sirius. We're both well aware that too much has changed between us for there to be a chance of rekindling." When Ren had finished speaking Loren let out a small sigh and took Ren's hands in her own.

"I know," She said, and Ren looked up at her. "Just don't let him break you again. It took you too long to mend last time." Loren sounded serious, none of usual joking manner in her voice.

"But it wasn't his fault." Ren murmured weakly, hating herself for defending Sirius even now. It was true. It hadn't turned out to be Sirius' fault like they had always thought, and that fact made it difficult to decide how she should feel about Sirius. She had gotten too used to hating him for the years of pain…

"Ren look at me," Loren raised her hand to Ren's cheek and cupped it tenderly. Their eyes met. "No matter what happens just put yourself first this time, okay?" Ren couldn't help but smile. Loren always knew just what to say.

"I will. I promise." She sniffed.

"Good," Loren said. "And I tell you what you're going to knock his balls right off tonight, you look like sex on legs!" Ren let out a watery giggle.

"That's always nice to hear." She admitted. "I should probably get going anyway." Ren rose from the bed and straightened out her dress before giving her curls a final ruffle.

"Where are you meeting?" Loren asked, standing up beside her.

"The Beaufort at the Savoy. I think we both assumed it would probably be for the best if we met up at a non-Wizarding establishment. I'm going to floo to the Leaky Cauldron then get a taxi there." Ren told her.

"Oh yeah, the press would pretty much come in their pants if they saw you and Sirius together. I'm surprised nothing has come out about how you two used to be to an item already if I'm honest." The women began to descend the staircase into the hallway below.

"You and me both," Ren agreed. "Especially with that article about me and Harry coming out today. The reporter obviously didn't do that much research. It shouldn't be that hard to find out that I'm his Godmother." She trotted into the living room and picked up her black clutch bag from where it had been thrown on the sofa next to Maia. Ren scratched the cat behind her ears gently while she was there.

"I mean I think the lack of research was obvious enough already, what with her 'source' saying you met at a party and fell in love instantly." Loren shrugged.

"True," Ren said. "But I reckon at the first sighting of Sirius and I together someone would do some digging and find out."

"Oh yeah, definitely." Loren nodded in agreement as the two women gathered by the fireplace. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Right, don't wait up for me like you did when I went on that blind date with Nessa's friend." Ren instructed, trying her best to sound firm. "Just go home to your family and I'll floo you in the morning." Loren pouted

"Aww come on, I don't mind waiting!" She pleaded, and Ren tried not to laugh.

"Go home!" She insisted, causing Loren to roll her eyes.

"Fine," She relented before giving Ren a hug and wishing her luck. "You'll be fine."

"I hope so." Ren murmured as Loren took a pinch of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace and disappeared a moment later into the emerald flames.

Now that she was alone Ren let out a final shaky breath. "You've got this." She said to herself before following in Loren's footsteps. Floo powder in hand she stepped into the hearth and shouted "The Leaky Cauldron!" before she could change her mind and chicken out.

* * *

Sirius nervously swallowed down the dregs of the Muggle lager he had ordered. What the _fuck_ had possessed him to ask Ren out?! Now that he had had time to reflect Sirius was sure that it would only end badly.

He was sat at the gleaming marble bar of The Beaufort, trying desperately to appear composed, but Sirius had a feeling he resembled some kind of weird, twitchy drug addict. He simply couldn't pull himself together! Every time he thought he heard someone approaching the bar from the foyer behind him Sirius spun around in pure terror to see who it was.

So far Ren was yet to arrive, which meant that every poor soul whom Sirius had darted round to gawk at had seemed quite baffled by the raven-haired mans behaviour. Merlin he was going the right way to get kicked out at this rate.

' _Just play it cool man'_ Sirius tried to tell himself, but it was to no avail.

He had been like this since Ren had left Grimmauld Place, Sirius reflected. Harry had been very sympathetic to Sirius' erratic behaviour. Before she had left the previous day, Ren had obviously told the boy that she and Sirius had made plans to meet up, and when Sirius had eventually ventured downstairs Harry had simply hugged him and offered his thanks, not saying anything more on the matter.

Since then the poor sods at Grimmauld Place hadn't had a clue how to deal with Sirius. He had been pacing around all day, rearranging things, changing too and from Padfoot every five minutes, not knowing which form he felt more settled in.

That morning it had got to the point where Harry and Remus had all but ordered Sirius to come for a walk with them to help clear his mind. This walk had basically consisted of them heading over to Highbury Fields with Sirius in his Animagus form, and then Harry and Remus standing around for over an hour while Padfoot bolted around the green barking and chasing birds, other dogs, leaves or anything else that moved. It had helped to relieve a bit of Sirius' pent up anxiety, but by now he was back to feeling completely terrified.

After the walk Sirius had shut himself up in his bedroom for the majority of the afternoon, thinking and threating, until five o'clock when (three hours before he was due to meet Ren) Sirius had plucked up the nerve to ask Harry for his opinion on what shirt he should wear for the meeting.

Harry's first instruction had been for the rather sweaty Sirius to take a shower, and after that the Godson and Godfather duo had then proceeded to go through Sirius' vast shirt collection, eventually settling on a simple fitted blue shirt teamed with tailored grey trousers.

Although the reason they had been doing it had Sirius' stomach in knots, he couldn't help but smile as he thought about the time Harry had spent helping him figure out what to wear. It was little moments like that which Sirius truly valued.

The Animagus was suddenly ripped violently from his thoughts as he zeroed in on the sound of heels clicking against the floor behind him. He spun around out of habit, half expecting (half hoping) that it would just be another random stranger entering the bar, but it wasn't. Not this time.

Ren was sauntering through the bars lounge, glancing around in an attempt to spot him. Sirius felt his throat go dry. Merlin she looked _amazing_.

Despite the simplicity of the black strapless dress she wore Ren still managed to look like royalty. The golden accessories worked beautifully with the dress and her makeup was perfect, not too much or not too little, just enough to make her skin seem to glow in the dimmed lighting of the bar.

Ren had always been beautiful, Sirius knew that, but she had truly grown up into the most stunning woman. Or perhaps Sirius was simply biased? Did his past with Ren prevent him from seeing her as anything else but a Goddess amongst women? Looking at her now he was vaguely reminded of when he had watched her arriving to the Masquerade Ball which had been held in their final year at Hogwarts. He was entranced by her. By how effortlessly good she looked.

At that moment Ren spotted Sirius at the bar. They locked eyes, each of them froze for but a second, before Ren began to make her way over to him. Sirius unconsciously rose from the barstool to greet her, but when Ren reached him and he saw her up close Sirius found that he had absolutely no idea what to say. The pair simply stood and stared at one another. Ren eventually broke the silence.

"Well I need a bloody drink." She said with a shrug, and that seemed to be the perfect icebreaker.

"I need about five." Sirius found himself saying before he could stop himself. Ren thankfully laughed and turned to the bar.

"Well what are you having then? I don't know about you but I'd want something stronger than beer." She said, nodding to the empty pint glass.

"Yeah I've quickly realised that too." The man agreed as a fresh-faced barman approached them and asked for their orders. "You still drink whisky?" Sirius asked her quickly, and Ren nodded.

"Two double whiskys please. Top shelf." Sirius requested, and when the barman disappeared to make their drinks, the Animagus didn't miss the roll of Ren's eyes as she tried to supress a grin.

-x-

They sat in silence at a secluded table, tucked away in a corner of the bar. They were facing one another, each seeming to take the other in, evaluating them.

Sirius observed Ren carefully. She was reclined in the chair, one leg draped over the other and the tumbler of whisky in her hand. She was watching him in much the same way and Sirius would have loved to have known what was going through her mind, what she thought of him at that moment in time.

"So," Ren said.

"So," Sirius echoed.

"Here we are… eighteen years later." Ren took a sip of her drink before placing it down gently on the table. "I suppose if I was meeting anyone else for the first time in nearly two decades I'd ask what they had spent that time doing, but their answer wouldn't be that they spent twelve years wrongfully imprisoned in Azkaban, so…" She trailed off, and Sirius almost wanted to laugh.

She was right. Anyone else would be able to tell Ren how they had spent the past eighteen years working on their career, making friends, having a family, but not Sirius. Ren, along with the rest of the Wizarding World, was well aware that Sirius had spent twelve years in Azkaban and the remaining five in hiding.

He had only truly had a number of months of really being able to live his life, and during those few months Sirius had been in and out of the tabloids so often that Ren, had she read them, probably already felt like she knew what Sirius had been up to already.

"That's true enough," Sirius agreed reflectively.

"For what it's worth I'm… I'm sorry you went through that." Ren said. Sirius was baffled. What on earth was Ren apologising for?

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, it was my own fault. If I hadn't lost my temper and gone after Peter, if I'd just stayed with you that night-"

"-No." Ren interrupted Sirius before he could start rambling. "Don't do that. You did what you did and in all honesty I probably would have done the same." She said. "I guess what I'm _really_ sorry for is… hating you for the past eighteen years." Sirius froze at her words. "Hating you for something you didn't even do in the end."

All Sirius could do was stare at Ren, whose hands were wringing in her lap. "I spent so long thinking about what I would do or say to you if I ever saw you again, and nearly every possible scenario I conjured up in my head ended up with me murdering you and ending up in Azkaban myself. For eighteen years that was only thing I'd allow myself to feel when I thought of you, because… I loathed you. For ruining my life, Remus' life, Harry's life."

Sirius wanted to plead with her to stop, to scream at her that it hadn't been his fault, that he was sorry for everything, especially that her memories of him had forever been tainted. "I blamed you for everything," Ren continued. "But mainly I blamed you for that _fucking_ Unbreakable Vow Dumbledore made me take. I had to swear that I'd stay away from Harry until he was an adult."

There was a beat of silence as Ren took a deep breath. "Then the War finished and the truth came out, and I found out that everything I'd thought for eighteen years had been wrong… I have to constantly remind myself that you were innocent. I'm having to train myself to not hate you, and I won't lie… it's really hard. But I just want you to know, here and now, that I am trying, and I'm sorry for the way I felt."

So everything that Sirius had feared had turned out to be true. Ren had hated him, and he didn't blame her. He hadn't known about the Vow, and if he was Ren he would have loathed him for that. He downed the remainder of his drink and signalled to a passing waiter for another round to be brought over.

"No Ren, you shouldn't be sorry." Sirius managed to eventually say. "I may not have been the one to betray James and Lily but it was still my fault. I shouldn't have changed places with Peter. And anyway I should have told you that I _had_ done it. If I had done then you could have still been able to raise Harry, regardless of what happened to me." They were staring at each other again. Ren's jaw was set in a firm grimace. At that moment a waiter came and interrupted the tense silence by depositing another two tumblers of whisky on the table before them.

"Thank you," Ren said to him, sending a small smile his way before he retreated. She seemed to jump at the chance to look anywhere but Sirius, but the man in question couldn't bring himself to turn his gaze away from her. The both simultaneously downed the whisky before them, each grimacing slightly at the taste. Sirius waited until Ren's brown eyes were settled on him once more.

"So I'm sorry. For every single thing I did." At his apology Sirius could see a vast amount of conflicting emotions sweep across Ren's face. It was like observing one of those Muggle gambling devices. The slot machines. Watching the crown, cherries or Merlin knows what else spin around and around, hoping that they'd slow down and all land on the same icon. What emotion would Ren settle on when her mind stopped spinning?

Eventually she let out a frustrated sigh and put her head in her hands, elbows propping her up on the table.

"What a fucking pair we are." She muttered, raking her hands through her curls almost violently. Much the same as Sirius had done to his own hair on numerous occasions recently.

Ren sat back and looked at Sirius once again, contemplatively. "So we're both sorry," She clarified and Sirius nodded, even though he knew she wasn't finished speaking. "But do we both accept each other's apologies and put _everything_ behind us?" She sounded like a cold, calculated business woman setting out a contract. In all honesty Sirius didn't like the use of the word 'everything'.

"And what do you mean by 'everything'?" He asked her harshly, unable to stop himself from prickling at her words. "Do you just mean the past eighteen years or are you including our time together before that? Because I can't do that, Ren." Sirius was surprised by how severe he sounded, but it couldn't help it. If he wasn't severe he would no doubt sound like a crumbling mess. "Trust me when I say I've fucking tried to forget you Ren. Tried to forget everything about you. Like how you twirl the ends of your hair between your fingers when you're anxious-"

Ren promptly dropped her hand from the curl she had unconsciously been twirling as if she had been electrocuted.

"-Sirius," She tried to interject, but to no avail.

"-Or how you could get so immersed in drawing or playing your guitar that you'd completely detached yourself from your surroundings. You'd stick your tongue out to the side slightly when you were concentrating and I'd know that there was no point in disturbing you because you were just in a world of your own." He took a deep, unsteady breath, unable to tell what the emotion welling up inside him was.

Was it anger? Longing? Or maybe both? "Or how you couldn't cook for shit, no matter how hard you tried, but you _did_ always try! You wanted to learn. Or how if you had a scab you _had_ to pick it, you just couldn't leave it to heal-"

"Sirius stop it," Ren's voice was low and dangerous, and even though Sirius heard her loud and clear he didn't stop, he couldn't.

"You always used to carry your camera around with you, no matter what. 'Just in case' you'd say." His own voice was a peculiar cross between unsteady and venomous at this point. He ignored Ren's half pleading half murderous eyes and tried to steamroll on. "Or how you'd look every mor-"

Ren cut him off though. Quick as a flash she bolted up, chair scraping viscously against the floor, and began to strut hurriedly towards the exit, head down and shoulders tense. Sirius didn't miss a beat though.

He sprung up, ripped two twenty pound notes from his trouser pocket and threw them down on the table to cover the drinks before marching after the woman, both of them oblivious to the stares from the other patrons of the bar. "Ren," He called as the woman neared the exit, but she ignored him. "REN," He doubled his pace as she disappeared through the door that the footman was holding open for her.

Slipping through the same door Sirius hurried down the steps after her. _'Don't you dare fucking disapparate!'_ He thought, panicked, but thankfully there were too many Muggles around. It seemed that whatever show was playing at the Savoy Theatre had just finished, so the street was littered with people.

By now Sirius had reached Ren. He sped up just enough in order to overtake her, and by the time they reached the bottom of the steps Sirius all but threw himself in front of her, grabbing hold of her forearms so that she couldn't escape him.

"Let go of me," She seethed through gritted teeth, not looking at him as she struggled to get loose.

"-Or how you'd look every morning when I'd get up for work." Sirius proceeded, puncturing each word, his own teeth clenched painfully. He was staring at her hard enough to burn a hole in the side of her face. " _Look at me, Ren,_ " He ordered, giving her a shake. But Ren stubbornly refused and continued to stare off to the left, shaking her head. "Before you'd wake up to see me off-" Sirius found himself continuing. "-The sunlight would fall on your face and your h-hair," He stuttered. "The way it would glow," Ren let out a weak sob, her resolve breaking.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked in a raised, bitter voice, her head finally whipping round to face him. People were starting to stare at them. In all honesty Sirius wasn't sure why he was telling her these things. He just needed her to understand.

"Because I can't forget any of it, Ren!" He shouted back, jolting her again sharply. "Do you not get that?!"

Ren had suddenly stopped struggling in his arms. Her gaze had dropped to the ground, leaving Sirius with a view of her scalp. He didn't release her arms though, not trusting that she wouldn't bolt and run away. Sirius decided to talk to her head instead of waiting for her to look at him again. After all he was sure that she was listening. "I can't forget any of those things Ren." He told her, and Ren's shoulders began to tremble.

"We have to try. Everything's different now." Sirius heard her say, sounding defeated… Seriously? He let out a harsh laugh of disbelief.

"See unlike you Ren I can't do that because those memories are the happiest ones I have!" He all but snarled, wanting her to look up at him. He was daring her to challenge him.

Something had switched in Sirius and he almost wanted to make the woman feel bad. "Unlike you," He continued, his grip shaking her again. "I didn't get to continue living! I spent twelve _fucking_ years locked away, with only those memories, that you want me to forget, to keep me going! I didn't get to move on and have a family-" Sirius spat words at her, not entirely sure what he was even saying, but at the last statement Ren's head snapped up and she gave him a look of pure fury.

"And I did?!" She hissed venomously, giving him an almighty shove which succeeded in dislodging him from her. She didn't bolt like Sirius had assumed she would, oh no. Ren reared up and stalked towards him, a finger pointed dangerously at his face. "You think that I'm what, married? A mother? I fucking wish, Sirius! Funnily enough no one's really keen to settle down with the ex-girlfriend of the mass murdering right hand man of the Dark Lord!"

Ren continued to stalk towards him, rage exuding from every inch of her body, but Sirius stood his ground, jaw clenched and nostrils flaring. "You've just assumed that I was able to just put you and Harry, James, Lily, Remus, _all of them_ out of mind and move on! Well I couldn't! Nearly twenty years later and I'm still as fucked up in the head as I was the day that it happened! I've watched my entire family grow up and have children of their own, and I'm still stuck-" She thumped him on the chest to empathise her point. "-thinking of _you_ every single time I try to move on!"

Sirius suddenly felt himself deflate, all of the anger leaving his body. "It didn't matter that I thought you'd betrayed us all. I hated you but I still couldn't move on. Do you know how fucked up that makes you feel?"

Tears were now falling from Ren's eyes, spilling freely down her cheeks. Her voice was now quiet and shaking. "I didn't get to move on either Sirius. I didn't get a family. I know you were in Azkaban but… My prison was my own fucking head. It's not the same, I- I get that, but-"

However Sirius cut her off, unable to stop himself. He couldn't listen to her for any longer, never having considered she would have been unable to move on from the past. She wasn't married. She wasn't a mother. His heart felt like it was going to split in two. It was wrong that he had assumed Ren would have forgotten the past. But he didn't know how else to express this to her, so Sirius did the first thing that came to mind.

He grabbed hold of Ren once more, pulled her forward and pressed his lips to hers in a searing kiss.

 **It's all bloody happening! Drama drama drama!** **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know if you did! I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes.**

 **PLEASE _REVIEW_ MY ANGELS AND I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER**

 **Eve x**


	9. Chapter 8

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 8_

The world seemed to fall away.

All of Ren's senses seem to leave her the moment Sirius' lips touched her own. It wasn't slow, soft or innocent, but fiery, demanding. It succeeded in knocking the air straight out of her lungs. It was an apology. It said all the words neither of them could find.

They wrapped their arms around each other, Ren's hands around his thick neck and Sirius' coming to rest just below her ears, his fingers teasing her hairline. There was little to no space between them but Ren didn't care.

All that she cared about was the feeling of Sirius' lips on hers, his tongue delving into her mouth and entwining with her own, exactly how it had done eighteen years ago.

Oh God.

It was so familiar. So right. As if nothing had changed and they had simply picked up where they had left off, falling deeply back into old habits.

Each of them still knew what the other one liked. Ren knew how Sirius would let out a low growl of pleasure when she ran the tip of her tongue against his teeth, and in response Sirius knew how Ren would go weak at the knees when he kissed and nipped the spot behind her ear, which he had pulled away to do so now.

Ren's head lulled back, eyes closed, exposing her neck even more for him, curls spilling further down her back.

She'd forgotten it was possible for her to feel like this. Sheer elation. All from a kiss.

However the sudden, abrasive honk from a taxi's horn, a sound that most definitely didn't belong in that moment of theirs, burst the bubble that had been surrounding them.

Each of them sprang back, but Sirius kept his arms wrapped around Ren. How long had they been stood there? It felt like an eternity but in reality Ren knew it was probably just for a minute or so. She looked around, seeming to only just realise that they were stood outside the Savoy. _'How on Earth did we end up out here?'_ She thought, feeling almost disorientated. Everything had happened so quickly. It was as if she was running on pure adrenaline.

Thankfully no one around them were paying the couple any mind. Everyone was far too preoccupied with their own lives.

Slowly Ren lifted her eyes to meet Sirius' and she found herself studying him. A part of her felt like she was only now seeing him properly for the first time in eighteen years. Another part of her thought that was probably the whisky talking. She looked into those stormy grey eyes and felt herself flush.

"Well," She breathed.

"Well," Sirius echoed her as he had done earlier in the night, only now he was looking a lot more satisfied. He had an easy smirk playing on his lips and his hands were settled securely on her hips as if they belonged there. This was the Sirius that Ren remembered. She felt sure she knew what was going to happen next.

"This is a bad idea," She warned him in a last, rather feeble attempt to knock some sense into either one of them, but Sirius simply shrugged.

"Seems like a pretty good bad idea if you ask me." Ren rolled her eyes at his words, letting out a small chuckle as she did so.

"You would say that." She mused and Sirius grinned at her, his eyes sparkling.

"Taxi?" He asked innocently.

"Taxi," Ren confirmed after a small pause, throwing caution to the wind. She would almost certainly end up regretting this decision, but at that moment in time did she care? No. Ren felt she deserved to feel something other than guilt, regret or sadness.

She watched Sirius as he quickly hailed one of the passing cabs and opened the door, stepping aside to allow Ren to climb in first. Ever the gentleman.

Sirius watched her as she slowly approached the taxi, nodding reassuringly, a smile on his face, when she reached the open door. That smile. Ren swore it did things to her. It was the final push she needed before climbing into the car. Sirius got in after her, pulling the door close with a slam before seating himself at Ren's side.

"Where to?" The weedy voice of the cabby asked.

"Charing Cross Road." Ren told him.

When the car started forward she found her hand reaching out and finding Sirius'. He immediately wrapped his fingers around hers. Both of them sat there in silence, reflecting with anticipation about what they were letting themselves in for.

-x-

The woven fabric of the rug muffled the sound of Ren's heels as she stepped out of the fire grate and into her cosy sitting room. She had left a tall floor lamp in the corner of the room turned on, and it now bathed the space before her in a warm, inviting ambience.

Ren turned around just in time to watch a second round of emerald flames appear, Sirius stepping carefully from them and into her home a second later.

Seeing Sirius stood in her living room suddenly felt very surreal. This cottage had been her sanctuary against her old life, she had always seen it as an almost impenetrable force, and yet in the space of a month she had invited both Harry and now Sirius, two of the most prominent figures of her past, within the physical walls which she had hidden behind since returning to England.

Sirius was glancing around the room, his grey eyes gazing over the dusty blue futon, the record player by the fireplace with its mountains of record sleeves stacked beside it, the cushy armchair upon which Maia lay curled up.

"Holy shit is that the devil kitten?!" Sirius exclaimed suddenly, cautiously advancing forward to get a closer look at the cat which he had gifted to Ren all those years ago.

Ren couldn't help but smirk in amusement at the timid way Sirius approached Maia, as if she was a lioness ready to attack. The truth was that Sirius and the cat had always had a… turbulent relationship. They had loved to hate each other. But that was back when Maia had been a spry young kitten, not an ancient, lazy pensioner.

Sirius had crouched carefully before the armchair and was now studying the cat intently. Maia, who was deaf as a post, was yet to awaken which allowed Sirius the chance to examine her properly. "Bloody hell," He murmured after a moment, rising to his feet. "I can't believe she's still going!" He said as he turned back to Ren, who was still stood in the same spot. She smiled at him.

"I think she's definitely slowing down now. She's probably got until the end of the year if we're lucky." She said, not really wanting to think about what life would be like once her furry companion had passed away.

"Well I'm glad you got my money's worth out of that gift." Sirius joked, and Ren couldn't help but laugh.

"Something tells me that if you'd been around she wouldn't have lasted half as long." She carped back, remembering the numerous death threats Sirius would bellow at Maia whenever she'd pounce on his feet or clawed at his long hair. The man shrugged ruefully as he came to stand before Ren.

"To be perfectly honest I think out of me and that cat _I_ would have been the one that ended up in an early grave." They were both laughing now.

"Yeah I probably would have put you there myself for threatening my baby!"

"Good Godric, eighteen years later and I still can't win you over that cat!"

By now they were close. Ren hadn't realised that they had ended up standing mere inches away from one another. They both seemed to become aware of this fact at the same moment. Ren saw a fire rise in Sirius' eyes and she looked down to the floor, not knowing if she could handle the intensity.

Sirius closed the remaining distance between them, and Ren let out a shaky sigh and she timidly rested her forehead against his shoulder. "Ren," Sirius tried to coax her into looking at him but she just couldn't, instead she continued to look down at their hands, their feet, anywhere but his face.

"Why are we doing this?" She asked in a whisper, more to herself than to him. "We both know that it won't work. That this is a bad idea." Ren could hear Sirius' steady breaths, finding it almost soothing.

"Ren," He said her name again. Ren's gaze, still fixed on their hands, now watched as Sirius' thick, worn fingers inched forward towards her slim, manicured ones. At first he simply brushed against her skin, but gradually he began to intertwine their fingers one by one, until his hand gripped hers securely.

Ren studied their entwined limbs, feeling tears well in her eyes as Sirius whispered in her ear. "Just for tonight-" He was saying "-It can be a good idea. It can be okay."

It seemed that was all Ren needed.

She lifted her head, tears starting to spill down her cheeks before she could stop them, and allowed herself to find Sirius' lips with her own.

It was reckless. It was wild. It was heaven. Their lips felt like they were made for one another. Their tongues danced and caressed. Sirius was right. Just for tonight this was okay. How could it not be when it felt so good?

Their arms were wrapped around each other as Ren tore her lips away for just enough time to mutter "Hold on," to Sirius before shutting her eyes and apparating them to her bedroom upstairs. Sirius, upon opening his eyes and seeing where they were, let out a mirth filled chuckle.

"Didn't even want to let go of me to walk up the stairs, huh? Can't say I blame you." He teased.

"Shut up." Was all Ren said, but she was unable to stop herself grinning at Sirius before she reached forward and her fingers found the top buttons of his shirt. They looked at each other, and she felt sure that her eyes held the same twinkle as Sirius' as he gave her a small nod.

Their lips met again as Ren began to unbutton his shirt. She felt Sirius loosening the golden belt that was secured around her waist, allowing it to drop to the floor as she pushed his shirt off his broad shoulders. It joined the belt on the carpet.

The feeling of Sirius' bare chest beneath her fingers made her pull away from their kisses. She felt something that hadn't been there eighteen years ago. Scars.

She glanced down, allowing herself to study the marks that littered his chest. There was only one large one. It started at his navel and ran jaggedly up the left side of his ribcage, ending just under his pectoral. The rest of them were all smaller but still a shocking addition to his body. As were the Azkaban tattoos.

"This one-" He motioned to the large, ugly scar. "-Was a gift from my cousin Bellatrix. It's what nearly made me fall into that Veil." Ren sucked in a breath at his explanation. "The rest are from Azkaban. It wasn't exactly an easy ride." He added, sounding like he was trying to lighten the mood.

Ren, glancing up at him, found it hard to push past the sadness that swelled in her stomach but she did her best to ignore it. She managed to do so by crouching down and placing a soft kiss to each of the scars she could see across his torso.

Sirius' head lolled back, an unsteady exhale slipping from him as he felt the velvet touch of Ren's lips against his skin. When she had finished Ren glanced up and saw that Sirius was taking long breaths in what may have been an attempt to regain some composure, Ren wasn't sure.

When he finally looked down and met her gaze Ren decided to lower herself to her knees before him. Not breaking eye contact her hands found Sirius' belt buckle, slowly beginning to undo it and when it was hanging open she moved onto unzipping his fly, exposing his black underwear.

Sirius continued to watch her, unblinking. His stare was hazy with desire and Ren felt almost like she was having a bizarre sense of déjà vu. But it wasn't déjà vu was it? How many times had they been in this position all those years ago? It was like slipping back into old habits.

Ren looked away from Sirius and focused her attention ahead of her. She gently pulled down the trousers and underwear in one go, revealing his already half hard dick. Just as she remembered it. Ren had to stop herself from giggling at that thought. So much had changed but Sirius' junk was the same.

She slowly leant forward and pressed a soft kiss, akin to those she had feathered across his chest, to the tip of his member before taking him in her mouth fully, a guttural groan escaping Sirius as she did so. One of her hands found the base as she began to run her tongue over the flesh, proceeding to suck him in earnest.

Was it odd that Ren had missed this? This raw intimacy between them. The peculiar sense of power she felt when she had him in her mouth. The groans and gasps escaping Sirius' lips made Ren squirm and shift her legs together as a dampness appeared between them. Oh yes, she had missed this very much.

Suddenly Sirius reached out and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away and hoisting her to her feet. They stared at each other for half a second, breathing ragged, before Sirius lunged forward and all but attacked Ren's lips. His hands found the zip on the back of her dress and he quickly undid it. Not waiting for the fabric to drop to the ground, Sirius instead chose to practically rip it from her body.

He broke away to study the woman before him, now stood only in her black lace underwear and high heels. Ren, unable to help it, suddenly felt a wave of insecurity wash over her. Sure she had retained her slim and slender figure over the years but her body was no longer that of the twenty-one year old Sirius had known.

She began to fold her arms across her stomach but Sirius stopped her, taking hold of her hands and looking her dead in the eye. "You are a Goddess." He said seriously, his stare burning into her with such ferocity that Ren almost believed him. Meeting his intense gaze, Ren reached behind her and unclipped the strapless bra, boldly letting it drop and join the pile of clothes on the floor.

Sirius couldn't hold himself back at the sight of her bare chest. He took her in his arms, his lips met her neck before gradually sliding lower and lower until he found one rosy nipple and took it in his mouth. The couple staggered in reverse slightly until the backs of Ren's legs bumped against the bed. They collapsed on the mattress together, Sirius on top of Ren as he kissed and sucked her nipple.

Ren threw her head back into the pillow, letting out a gasp when Sirius turned his attention to her other breast. By now her heels had slipped of, leaving her in only her panties.

"Sirius," She breathed, and the man ceased his actions in order to look up at her with a satisfied smirk on her face. He then started to inch further down her body until he eventually reached her sex. Sirius didn't waste any time. He slid the skimpy underwear down her long legs and dove in.

Ren couldn't help herself. She writhed around atop the sheets, legs coming up to rest on Sirius' broad shoulders and her hands finding their way into his hair. The only sounds in the room were her breathy moans and the soft sucking and licking sound coming from Sirius against her labia.

She felt strangely light as her orgasm began to build, climbing higher and higher. "Sirius," Ren couldn't help but exhale his name again, and this seemed to be what the man was waiting for as he suddenly latched onto her clit and began to suck in earnest, succeeding in tipping Ren over the edge with a shuddering cry.

She lay there staring up at the beamed ceiling, twitching slightly as Sirius climbed his way back up her body. When his handsome face appeared in her vision as he crouched above her, hands propping him up on either side of her head, Ren couldn't help but smile up at him. Her right hand reached up and stroked his forearm. "Mr Black?" She queried innocently.

"Yes Ms Gallagher?" He responded.

"I do believe you're still wearing too many clothes." Ren said, brushing the leg of Sirius' trousers, which were still bunched against his ankles, with her foot. Sirius let out a low growl of a chuckle which made Ren's insides flutter.

"Well I shall do my best to right that wrong." He said. "Especially as you're so _delectably_ void of your clothing." His wolfish gaze settled on Ren's bare breasts and she let out a laugh which made them bounce slightly, much to Sirius' pleasure.

"I think that's only fair seeing as I'm lying here in all my glory." She teased as Sirius yanked off his shoes and socks before wiggling his slacks and underwear off his legs completely. "Very graceful." Ren commented and Sirius shrugged.

"You know me. I was always the epitome of grace and elegance." He said nonchalantly and Ren's brow furrowed.

"Well that's a bare faced lie." She countered. Sirius looked like he wanted to argue back but he managed to resist as he now knelt on the bed as naked as the day he was born.

"Right we're getting off topic here," He said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "We'll come back to this debate later on but for now-" Sirius grabbed her legs and forcefully pulled her towards him so that he was positioned between them. "-We have other matters to be attending to."

He swooped down and they locked lips in a bruising kiss. Ren sighed into his mouth when she felt Sirius' erection find its way to her slick folds. He rutted against the wet warmth for a few moments, each of them revelling in the stimulation, until the head of his dick caught against Ren's entrance. Their eyes met, both panting heavily, and Ren gave the smallest of nods. Sirius nodded back before slowly and steadily pushing into her.

They both moaned, Ren's breathy and light while Sirius' was low and guttural. " _Shit_ ," The man panted through gritted teeth when he was fully sheathed within her. Ren's hands cupped Sirius' face, making him look her dead in the eye.

"Fuck me Sirius," She all but growled, and Sirius seemed happy to oblige her. His eyes set in a determined stare, jaw clenched, he began to move. He started fucking Ren in earnest, as if his life depended on it.

"You feel so good," He managed to stutter between his vigorous rocking. Ren, her whole face and body flushed, could only moan in response. Her arms wrapped around his hips, hands coming to rest on his bare arse in an attempt to pull him even closer.

Sirius' thrusts were hard and powerful. The iron headboard started to bang rapidly against the wall, and the sound of it along with their moans and the slapping of their skin almost hypnotised Ren. That along with the pure euphoria she felt as Sirius thrusted brutally into her.

Ren's hips bucked up, desperate to meet his as Sirius drove his cock within her. Their lips sought each other, hungry and needy, and all too soon Ren could feel her orgasm approaching. It wasn't a subtle build up like last time, Ren could tell it was going to hit her like the Knight Bus.

"Sirius," She managed to say. "I'm go- I'm going to come. D-don't stop!" She said, terrified that if she didn't let him know then Sirius would stop and leave her hanging on the edge.

"You going to come Ren?" Sirius growled, hands taking hold of her hips as he moved. All Ren could do was nod in response but Sirius wasn't having that. "Use your words baby," He rasped. "Tell me you're going to come all over my dick or I won't let you."

"I-I'm" Ren tried. She couldn't let him stop. Not now. She needed this orgasm. "I'm going to come all over your dick!" She cried as the man continued to ram relentlessly into her. " _Please!_ " She cried, making Sirius' balls tighten.

"Come for me, Ren, now!" He demanded, and Ren didn't need to be told twice. Her entire body wracked with ecstasy as her orgasm hit her. She was barely aware that she was all but screaming at the top of her lungs, and soon Sirius was joining her, groaning as he came within her. He collapsed on top of her and the pair lay there, dripping with sweat and panting like dogs.

 **Sooo what did you think of their sexy reunion?! Was it a good idea? A bad idea? Will Harry find out? Please let me know what you think! Sorry if there were any spelling/grammar mistakes, but I'm sure we can look past them can't we? ;)**

 **Thank you so much to those who have left feedback! The follows, faves and all the lovely reviews really motivate the shit out of me and appreciate all of them! Keep them coming!**

 **Eve x**

 **P.S. _REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!_**


	10. Chapter 9

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 9_

Sirius sat at the edge of the bed, still naked with the duvet bundled in his lap to protect his modesty. He was watching Ren pace the bedroom with such ferocity that her dressing gown was billowing out behind her.

They each had a glass of firewhisky in hand, Ren taking large swigs of hers every so often while Sirius tried to sip his as cautiously as possible. He was scared that any sudden movement from him would startle Ren from her intense thought process. For some reason he felt almost like a naughty school boy awaiting punishment from his teacher. Not daring to say anything, Sirius instead opted to sit sheepishly, watch and drink.

The pair has just finished having, what was in Sirius' opinion, some of the most mind-blowing sex he'd ever had but it seemed that on Ren's behalf the post coital bliss was well and truly over.

They had been lying side by side, neither having spoken as they were yet to catch their breath, but Sirius had suddenly felt Ren completely tense up. They turned to look at each other, Sirius' gaze curious and Ren's that of what Sirius could only describe as pure terror. Before he had the chance to say anything Ren had sprung out of bed, thrown a soft looking grey dressing gown over her bare curves, and disappeared down the stairs.

Sirius, completely baffled, had only had time to sit up and swing his legs off the bed with the intention to go after her, before Ren had hurried back up the stairs into the room with two whisky tumblers clasped between her fingers and a bottle of Ogden's in the other hand. She had slammed the glasses down on her dressing table, poured a sizeable amount of whisky in each, and handed one of them to Sirius before taking the other and starting to pace.

That had been about ten minutes ago and Sirius was still sat there, opting to let the woman speak when she was ready. He had more or less gathered, however, that Ren regretted the sex. He was no seer or anything but from her reaction Sirius felt confident in his deduction.

However Sirius himself couldn't say that he regretted it. Sure it probably hadn't been the smartest thing for them to do if they were looking to have a cordial relationship for Harry's sake. But hey, shit happened.

Ren suddenly stopped her pacing so abruptly that it made Sirius jump. She spun around to face him.

"What is wrong with us?" She asked him exasperatedly. Sirius opened his mouth but quickly closed it again. Oh Merlin, where did he begin? He felt sure that Ren's question had been rhetorical but he wanted to try and defuse the tension.

"We'd be here all night if I tried to list all of _my_ issues alone. I could, however, get a chronologically ordered list on your desk by Monday." He said, and he very much had to stop himself from laughing at the look of pure astonishment that washed over Ren's features.

"I-I," She stuttered, completely speechless. _'Uh oh,'_ Sirius suddenly thought, but it was too little too late. "HOW can you possible make a joke right now?!" She demanded, stalking over to him. Sirius scooted back onto the bed like lightning in an attempt to get away from her wrath.

"Because I thought it was funny!" He admitted without even thinking, which probably wasn't the smartest thing he could have done. Ren froze and looked at him, dumbfounded. She suddenly let out a frustrated sigh, downing the rest of her whisky before banging the glass down on the bedside cabinet. She ran her hands through her curls and sat forcefully down on the bed. Sirius, still backed against the headboard, now felt it was potentially safe to approach her. He gently edged a little bit closer.

"Am I overreacting?" She asked, maybe more to herself then Sirius. This time the Animagus had enough sense to remain silent. Ren looked at him. "I made such a big point of not wanting anything more than to be there for Harry. That was all I wanted." She explained. "And then I jump into bed with you the first chance I get because I'm, what, lonely? An idiot? Because I can't let go of the past? You take your pick."

Sirius couldn't help but feel guilty as Ren expressed her inner battle. "It's just frustrating." She added. "Because I did exactly what I told myself not to."

"I'm sorry." Sirius said, embarrassed, but Ren scoffed before chuckling slightly.

"Don't apologize Sirius. I'm not saying I didn't want it. Or that I didn't enjoy it. That's the problem, I did enjoy it. Probably too much. But that's not what this is about. It's about Harry, not us."

Although unable to deny to himself that Ren admitting she had enjoyed the sex had pleased Sirius greatly, he wanted to reassure her that she didn't need to feel bad about it.

"That doesn't have to change." He insisted, shuffling all the way down the bed, now feeling that it was safe to be within arms reach of the woman. "You're right. It _probably_ wasn't the smartest thing we could have done. But we did it anyway. We fucked. Now we can move past it like adults because again, you're right, this is about you being in Harry's life. Us having sex doesn't have to change that." Sirius reassured Ren, and he could see her visibly relaxing at his words. She nodded in agreement.

"Okay," She said. "Now you're right." Ren smiled. "Sorry for overreacting." Sirius smiled back at her as she apologised sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it. And hey at least this way it's out of our systems and we can move on."

"Yeah. Yeah we can move on that's a good plan." She said as if she was beginning to map out an idea. "You-" She pointed to him. "-Can move on with that singer you're always in the magazines with, she's gorgeous after all-" Sirius' stomach dropped at the mention of 'that singer'.

Shit. He had completely forgotten about Taylor. Ren's remark hadn't been a sly dig of any sort. She had said it with the belief that that was what Sirius would have actually wanted. "-and I'll… I'll find someone to, y'know, go for a drink with or something. Nothing serious but just so we're not dwelling on… this." She gestured between them.

Sirius' stomach now felt like it was about to fall out of his arse. He had to admit to himself that the thought of Ren with another man irritated him greatly, but how could he tell her that? It would contradict everything they had just said.

"Cool," Was all Sirius managed to say in response, and Ren let out what sounded like a very relieved sigh.

"Okay, great." She said. After a moment she rose from the bed and went to collect the bottle of whisky from the dresser. Refilling both of their glasses Ren then sat herself back down in the bed beside Sirius.

They drank in silence for a short while, each of them enjoying the fiery burn of the liquor trickling down their throats while they reflected on the night. It had been like one of those Muggle rollercoaster rides that was for sure.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" Sirius found himself asking. "About the sex, I mean?" Ren ran her tongue along her bottom lip before answering.

"I'll probably tell Loren, but that's because she'll force it out of me either way." She said, and Sirius turned to her in surprise.

"Loren as in… Doctor Loren Jenkinson? From our seventh year?" He asked in disbelief. Ren was still in touch with the batty guidance councillor?!

"The very same." Ren nodded, smiling at Sirius' baffled expression. "She married Professor Mitchell, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. You remember him?"

"What?!" Sirius laughed. "No way!"

"Yeah, they've got two little boys. Joshua and Rio." Ren told him. "Leeroy's starting back at Hogwarts when the school reopens as the Defence Professor again, did you know that? McGonagall offered him the job." Sirius shook his head.

"Merlin it's like history is repeating itself." He said, and Ren snorted.

"Bloody hell I hope not. If that was the case then you're due for another stint in Azkaban and I've got another mental breakdown to look forward to."

-x-

The moment Sirius stepped out of the fireplace and into the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place he was greeted by the sound of a bench scraping against the stone floor as Harry scrambled off the wooden seat and across the room in a flurry of footsteps. He stopped inches before Sirius and the man couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that Harry seemed to have been waiting up for him like an expectant mother.

The boy, who had obviously been about to shower Sirius in questions if the way his mouth was hanging open was anything to go by, paused at the sound of his Godfather's laughter.

"What?" He asked, sounding paranoid.

"Nothing… I just feel like I'm about to receive a lecture because I've stayed out late, that's all." Sirius mused in a casual, sarcastic manner.

"Ha ha," Harry deadpanned, both looking and sounding unimpressed. "In all seriousness though- no, don't you dare-" The nineteen year old said suddenly, interrupting Sirius who had clearly been about to make a name based Sirius/serious pun. The man grinned at Harry's interlude. "-I mean it, how did it go? Really?"

Sirius decided to drop the joking act for now. He took a moment to evaluate the evening as he strolled across the kitchen and began to fix himself a drink once he had reached the cabinet in which the alcohol was kept.

The events of the evening played through his mind. To sum it up they'd had an argument at the Beaufort followed by an amazing kiss before heading back to Ren's place and having some wonderful sex. Sirius shook his head at the vision of Ren's face contorted with pure pleasure. He hoped the action would help get it out of his head. Harry didn't need to know about that, that was for sure.

"It went well." Sirius told him instead. "We drank, we reminisced-" He added at Harry's insistent look. "-and I won't lie we bickered a bit." The Boy Who Lived suddenly looked worried and Sirius attempted to rectify that. "But all in all we agreed that we both want to be there for you, and that there's no reason why Ren shouldn't be in your life too."

He swallowed the contents of his glass down in one, by now feeling the buzz from the copious amounts of the amber liquid he had consumed throughout the evening. Sirius briefly wondered if Ren was also feeling the effects. Merlin knew she had put away just as much as he had.

Harry's sigh of relief brought Sirius back to the present.

"Thank Merlin," He said, appeasement oozing from him. "Y'know I was really worried that… that-"

"-That we wouldn't be able to let go of the past?" Sirius finished for him, and at his words Harrys hands wrung together awkwardly as he gave the man before him a sheepish glance.

"I suppose. It just sounds awful when you say it out loud though." He confessed. Sirius shrugged nonchalantly, hoping it would hide the fact that deep down he was also worried about the same thing as Harry.

"We'll all be fine." He said simply. And they would be. He and Ren had each said they'd try to move on and not dwell on what had happened that evening. _'Easier said than done,'_ Sirius couldn't help but think to himself as Harry nodded at him.

"Good. I hope you both had a nice night anyway. Again thank you for going. I can stop worrying and head up to bed now that you're back." He joked, and Sirius smiled as he watched his Godson make for the door.

"Hey Harry," He called out as he reached the wooden frame, and the boy turned back to him.

"Yeah?" He asked, and Sirius swallowed nervously.

"Invite Ren to Sunday lunch at the Burrow." He instructed. "If she's going to be a member of this family she may as well meet the rest of them."

* * *

The request hour had just begun at Muggle Melody, and Ren was scanning through the pile of letters that was forming on her audio console. This was the slot of time in which Ren invited her listeners to request songs that they would like to hear played on the radio.

On Muggle radio stations the listeners would simply ring up and tell the DJ their desired song by phone, but seeing as a lot of Wizarding households didn't own telephone sets Muggle Melody had a direct owling system, as well as a phone line, for people to send in their requests.

The owls would fly into Ren's studio through an open window on the left side of the room, drop the note or letter from their beak into a basket below them and then, without stopping, would fly straight out of an exit window directly opposite the one from which they had entered. It was a simple yet clever one-way system. Ren and the radio producer, Wilfred, would then collect the papers throughout the morning and organise the request playlist, making sure it was ready to go for nine o'clock, the final hour of Ren's broadcast before she signed off for the day.

Ren, however, was currently scowling down at an unfolded note that was from none other than Loren Mitchell.

" _Tell me what happened last night, damn you!"_

Loren, having not heard from Ren for just over twelve hours after she had left to meet Sirius, appeared to have taken it upon herself to use the open contact line for the request hour as an opportunity to hound Ren for information. This was one of seven notes she had sent her friend, demanding the low down on what had happened when she had seen Sirius for the first time in nearly two decades.

It wasn't that Ren hadn't planned on telling Loren what had happened. She had been so overwhelmed the previous evening that she had straight to bed the moment Sirius had left, and had woken up late that morning, groggy and hungover. She simply hadn't had time to sit down and send Loren a bloody owl with a detailed report of the night's events!

Ren, annoyance at her friend's persistence rising, quickly searched through her music archives until she found a particular song and slipped it into the upcoming music queue, making sure it was the next song to come on.

As the current song playing ( _Bennie & the Jetts_ by Elton John, a favourite of hers) came to an end Ren turned on her microphone and leant in to speak before her song/message to Loren began.

"And this next one is for Loren, it's _Leave Me Alone_ by Michael Jackson. Enjoy my friend!" _'There,'_ She thought as she turned her mic off again as the song started to play. Hopefully Loren would take the hint and stop harassing her at work.

Sitting back, Ren let out a sigh as she found herself mulling over last night once again. She had definitely overreacted. Looking back on it she almost felt bad for Sirius. He had simply sat on the bed, quite calm, as Ren had unleashed a meltdown on him. So they had sex! It wasn't the end of the world! They had sat and talked about it like the grown adults they were, so hopefully there would be no adolescent awkwardness between them when they next saw each other.

Everything was _fine_ (Ren hoped that if she kept telling herself that she'd eventually believe it).

"You okay there, Ren?" Wilfred asked from where he sat on the other side of the desk. "You look like you're thinking hard. That's dangerous that is."

Ren smiled warmly. She liked Wilfred and had a lot of time for him. He was a tall, portly man in his early seventies with a bald head and round glasses through which peeked wide, watery blue eyes. He had been at Muggle Melody for his entire working life, and on Ren's first day he had taken her under his wing and made her feel at home. The two of them made a great team. With Ren as 'the face' of the show (so to speak) and Wilf working his magic behind the scenes, making sure everything ran smoothly, the morning broadcast always went off without a hitch.

"I'm alright Wilfy. I've just had a whirlwind few days, that's all." Ren told him, and Wilf raised a bushy brow and peered over his spectacles at her.

"Well not to be a gossip-" He began, and Ren let out a playful scoff. Wilf was _undeniably_ the office gossip. He never did it in a malicious way by being nasty about people behind their backs, he simply found it impossible to keep anything to himself, and everyone knew it. Wilf was not the person to seek advice from if you had a secret. "- _but_ Di said she saw pictures of you with none other than _Harry Potter_ in some magazine the other day!"

Dinah was Wilf's wife. Ren had met her a number of times and could automatically tell that she was as much of a gossip as her husband. The pair of them were constantly speculating and nattering about something or other. They each had hearts of gold though, that was undeniable.

Ren wasn't surprised that the photos of her and Harry were finally being brought up. She was amazed she'd gone this long without being questioned to be quite honest. She had a feeling that it had been the talk of the office behind her back for the past few days, but no one had dared to bring it up when she was around. No one but old Wilfy that was.

Should she tell him the truth about her and Harry? She knew that he wouldn't twist her words or add fanciful details to the story. He'd simply repeat what she told him with frank honesty if someone asked him. But then that would mean admitting the facts that she had kept to herself all these years. Ren couldn't remember the last time that she had told someone that she was Harry's Godmother.

Her family all knew but none of them _dared_ to bring it up. Her more extended family had probably forgotten in all honesty. The alternative, however, was letting Wilf and the rest of her colleagues think that she was a creepy cradle snatcher trying to date someone twenty years her junior.

"I-" She started slowly, thinking carefully about what she was going to say. "- I knew Harry when he was a baby. I was friends with his parents." She felt that was a reasonable explanation. Not revealing anything _too_ personal but also making it quite clear that she had no plans to shag him.

Unsure of whether she wanted to see Wilf's reaction, Ren instead focused her attention on transitioning the next song ( _Finally_ by Cece Peniston) onto air.

"I see," Wilf mused when Ren finally looked back at him. "That must have been an emotional reunion."

"Understatement of the century there, Wilfy." Ren muttered before deciding to change the subject. "So anyway, how's the house hunting going?" She asked brightly. Wilf and Dinah had recently started looking to downgrade their house for something smaller as all of their children had long since grown up and moved out. They were both of the retirement age (although Ren knew that Wilf wouldn't leave Muggle Melody unless dragged out kicking and screaming) and wanted somewhere low maintenance for their golden years.

"Impossible!" Wilf immediately huffed, the subject change having the desired effect. "Absolutely impossible! Di is the fussiest women Merlin ever did see!"

-x-

Ren closed the front door behind her and threw her handbag down on the side table. _'What a morning,'_ she thought to herself, glad that it was over. After going through the usual ritual of lighting the fires in both the kitchen and living room, Ren headed over to the floo network fireplace and braced herself. She took a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the hearth, leaning forward as she did so and speaking clearly.

"Come on then, Loren."

The effect was instant. Before the green flames of her message had even died down, they re-erupted and Loren Mitchell all but fell out of the fireplace and into the living room in her eagerness.

Ren couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement as she watched her closest friend scramble to her feet and straighten her clothes, doing her best to appear nonchalant. "Lovely entrance," Ren remarked. "Been waiting long?"

"Nope," Loren's voice was clipped. "Just since when you finished work." She explained, but before Ren could so much as blink in response Loren grabbed her arms and pushed her back onto the blue futon behind her. "Now what happened?!" She demanded, bending at the waist so that they were eye to eye and pointing a finger to Ren's face, one manicured, purple nail nearly touching her nose.

Realising that it was pointless to even attempt to steer the conversation in any other direction, Ren began to tell Loren about the events of the evening. How it had started well enough. How they had bristled and started bickering. How Ren had eventually stormed out.

She stopped after that, not exactly sure whether she should share what happened after that. How Sirius had ran after her and spoke with a passion that hadn't died after all. The kiss… it would surely send Loren into a meltdown. "And that's it? You left?" Loren clarified quietly.

She had straightened up again and had spent the entirety of the story staring down at Ren with a steely gaze, her arms folded across her chest. Now she turned away and moved towards the fireplace, a look of deep concentration on her face. Ren remained silent for a moment, staring at the back of Loren's head.

"Uhhhmmmm," Was all she could say, doing her best to appear nonchalant, but her voice was high pitched and shaky. Loren immediately spun back around quicker than you could say Quidditch, a crazed look in her eye. She dived back down so that she was once again nose to nose with Ren.

" _What?!_ So you didn't leave?" Loren interrogated. Ren's eyes darted this way and that before finally settling on a far-off corner of the room.

"N-no, I left." She stuttered, still trying to sound calm but failing miserably. Loren's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Alone?" She asked. Ren closed her mouth and swallowed deeply, looking down at her lap.

"Nope," She whispered slowly. "I didn't leave alone." Loren's jaw dropped and she let out a strangled gasp.

"Renee Danielle Gallagher!" She exclaimed, but Ren interrupted her with an irritated snarl, rising to her feet and stalking past Loren into the kitchen.

"Oh, leave it out Loren!" Ren warned her friend as she followed, hot on her heels.

"He came back here?!" Loren asked, ignoring Ren's deterrent. The woman suddenly stopped.

"Yes he did!" She spat, spinning around and slamming her hands down on the table so abruptly that Loren froze. "And what's so bloody wrong with that?!" Ren demanded, trying to refrain from shouting at her friend. "He ran after me, and I told him that he needed to forget about our past and just move on. But he poured his heart out to me, saying how he couldn't forget about me because those memories were the only thing that kept him going!"

Ren's eyes had filled with tears by now as she recalled the words which had brimmed with raw emotion. "It resonated with me. That's how I've felt for the last eighteen years. I tried and tried to forget him but I just couldn't. The time we spent together was the happiest I've ever been. If I was to forget it what would I have left?"

Loren's jaw had dropped. "And he kissed me," Ren continued. "He kissed me, and I don't remember when I last felt something like that kiss." Her voice was shaking. "So yeah Loren, he came back here and I had sex with him. I wanted to. He didn't coerce me into it or anything like that. It was my choice. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I did. I freaked out a bit afterwards, I'll admit that-" A soft chuckle escaped her lips, entirely unconvincing. "-but we talked. We've acknowledged that I'm here for Harry and now we can just move forward. It's out of our systems now." Ren said, repeating Sirius' words as her closing statement.

After she had stopped talking Ren felt like she was almost regaining consciousness. At some point during her speech she had sat down at the kitchen table without even realising it. Loren had joined her, taking her hands in her own. And there they sat with their fingers clasped together.

"I never meant to make you feel like you had to explain yourself to me." Loren eventually said softly.

"I know," Ren murmured. "I just don't want to be judged for doing something wrong that felt so right."

 **Hi guys! Sorry for the delay with updating. The good news is I've finished my first year at uni so I now have all the time in the world to write guilt-free! The bad news is I'm doing the first semester of my second year in Australia, so in a months time I'm moving to the other side of the world for six months and may not have a lot of free time to write. I know, sorry about that, but I'm very excited about the move so wish me luck!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I think Ren would be unable to stop herself from freaking out at first, so good thing old Sirius was there to talk her down, haha. PLEASE leave me a review if you liked it letting me know! I really appreciate the feedback.**

 **As usual I'm sorry about any spelling/grammar issues but I'm sure we can let it slide can't we?**

 **Don't forget to follow, fave and REVIEW!**

 **Eve x**


	11. Chapter 10

Tomorrow Never Came  
 _Chapter 10_

The front door of 12 Grimmauld Place was flung open and Ren was greeted by the bushy haired, rather flustered looking, Hermione Granger. She grinned when she saw the woman stood at the threshold.

"Ren, hi!"

"Hi Hermione, how are you?" Ren greeted as the girl stepped aside in order to allow Ren in. It was Sunday, three days after Ren and Sirius had gone for their 'reunion drinks'. Ren had received an invitation from Harry asking her to join him for Sunday dinner with the rest of the family at somewhere called 'the Burrow'. It would allow her to meet the rest of the Weasleys and finally put some faces to the names Harry was constantly mentioning.

Ren had happily accepted the invite, excitement coursing through her because she figured if Harry wanted her to meet the Weasleys it showed that he really wanted her around. However, as Sunday had crept closer Ren's anxiety had reared its ugly head.

She felt a lot of pressure to impress the Weasleys and she was paranoid that the parents, Arthur and Molly (whom Harry had spoken so highly of) would look down on her because she hadn't been there for her Godson. Ren didn't want to have to explain herself to strangers.

But despite her worries Ren had sucked it up and put on her big girl pants, and there she was at Grimmauld Place at ten to five so that she could floo over to the Burrow with Harry and the others.

"I'm good thank you," Hermione was saying as she closed the door behind Ren. "But we might be running a little behind schedule."

"Why's that?" Ren asked, an eyebrow cocked in curiosity. Hermione pressed her lips together in an attempt to keep a straight face.

"Well," She began, her brown eyes twinkling. "Teddy may have projectile vomited all over Ron."

Ren couldn't help the small snort of amusement that left her. She quickly pressed a hand to her mouth to try and hide her smile. Hermione also seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face.

"Oh," Ren said, trying her best to sound casual. "Is he alright?"

"Ron or Teddy?" Hermione asked, and Ren didn't try to hide the laugh that escaped her this time.

"Both, I guess." Ren said, still chuckling. Hermione had also given up trying to keep a straight face. She giggled along with the woman.

"Teddy seems absolutely fine. Very proud of himself, even."

"And Ron?"

"Considerably less so." Hermione said. "He's in the shower as we speak, no doubt scrubbing his skin raw which is why we're running late."

"Why not just use scourgify?" Ren questioned.

"Well we did. Teddy is squeaky clean but Ronald was insisting he could still feel the sick all over his skin. He wouldn't stop complaining so we all figured letting him go for a shower would just be easier for everyone involved. He shouldn't be too long though. Come on, we'll wait downstairs." Hermione led the way along the hallway and down to the basement kitchen.

Upon entering the room Ren was greeted by the Lupin family sat at the long table bench. Teddy was stood upon the table top, holding hands with his mother in order to gain more support. Remus was sat beside Tonks, grinning as his son stomped his little feet against the wood.

"Hi guys," Ren greeted as she followed Hermione into the kitchen. Remus and Tonks both turned to her and smiled.

"Hi Ren," Remus stood up and met her halfway, offering Ren a hug in greeting which she gladly accepted. It felt so unusual to feel Remus' arms wrapped around her once more. She decided that they'd have to have a one on one catch up soon.

"I hear there's tardiness in the ranks thanks to a certain someone." Ren said once her and Remus had separated, fixing the giggling Teddy with a pointed look. Hermione had been right in saying that he did seem very proud of himself.

"You heard correctly," Tonks confirmed. "Remus put the kettle on, will you?"

"Yeah, Master Lupin must have noticed that things were running too smoothly. It was nice of him to take matters into his own hands and spice things up." The Werewolf said. "Cuppa? Ren, Hermione?" He added. Both of the women accepted the offer as they took a seat opposite Tonks and Teddy.

The toddler, still standing on the table, focused his attention on the women. He unsteadily turned himself to face them, a cheeky grin creeping its way onto his chubby face when he noticed the abundance of curly hair that Ren and Hermione shared, just waiting to be grabbed.

"Hiya handsome," Ren winked.

"Say hi, Ted." Tonks said to her son, brushing her vivid orange hair out of her eyes. Teddy took a step of two forward so that he was stood unassisted directly before Hermione and Ren.

"Haii," He said bashfully, succeeding in making the women weak in the knees as they cooed over his cuteness. That's when all hell broke loose.

Teddy pounced, leaping forward with a piercing squeal and his arms outstretched. It almost looked like he was trying to hug both Ren and Hermione at once, which would have been sweet had it not been for the fistfuls of each of their hair that Teddy grabbed hold of with an almighty yank, resulting in loud cries of pain from the two women as their heads were jerked forward towards the table.

"Teddy, no!" Tonks screamed, springing up and nearly jumping over the table as she grabbed her son around the waist so that she could pull him back. However, Teddy's grip was like an iron vice, resulting in Ren and Hermione being dragged halfway across the table when Tonks backed away, more shouts and outcries of pain bursting from them. Remus had abandoned the tea order and bolted over, but at that exact moment the kitchen door was kicked open and in walked Harry and Sirius. The door slammed right into Remus' face and he fell back to the floor, clutching his nose.

"Shit, Moony!" Sirius yelled as his friend went down.

Now amongst the sounds of Ren and Hermiones' yelps of pain, Tonks' begging for her son to let go as she tried to loosen his grip, and Teddys' ecstatic giggling, there was a collective cry of "REMUS!" from the three women, causing Sirius to jump back in terror as Harry dived after Remus to help him sit back up. The Werewolf batted him away.

"JUST GET TEDDY OFF REN AND HERMIONE!" He bellowed, still holding onto his nose. Not needing to be told twice, Harry and Sirius bolted over to the women. Harry grabbed Teddy's fist which had cemented itself to Hermione's hair and Sirius the one in Ren's and they eventually managed to pry the hair loose from the toddlers deceptively strong grasp.

Tonks, who had ended up kneeling on top of the table in an attempt to make sure no hair left the scalps from which they belonged, hurried backwards the moment they were detached in order to put as much distance between her son and the curly hair as possible. Neither Hermione nor Ren were prepared for the sudden freedom. Hermione almost lost her footing but was steadied by Harry. Ren, on the other hand, all but fell into Sirius and the pair clattered to the stone floor.

Remus had regained his footing and was stood at the head of the table, hands spread before him as if he was trying to tame a wild Hippogriff. Other than Teddy's satisfied giggling, no one spoke. Everyone was trying to catch their breath.

"What… the bloody _hell_ was that all about?" A bewildered voice suddenly broke the silence, and everyone turned in unison to see a flabbergasted Ron Weasley stood in the doorway.

-x-

One hour later Ren (her hair now safely plaited and out of the way) found herself wedged between Harry and Remus at the crowded kitchen table of the Burrow. Despite the fact that everyone was busy demolishing the delicious joint of roast beef, conversation still flowed freely between the extensive group.

Ren had quickly found that she liked the Weasleys' immensely. They reminded her very much of her own family, which helped Ren quickly pick up the vibe of the gathering. The Matriarch and Patriarch, Molly and Arthur, warmed Ren's heart. Despite the care she showered on everyone from the second they arrived, Ren could tell that Molly was a force to be reckoned with.

Even now as they ate, Molly was up and out of her chair at the head of the table every five minutes making sure that everyone had enough to eat ("Do you want another Yorkshire pudding, Ren? Fred, more carrots?") or checking on the treacle sponge pudding that was cooking away in the oven. Arthur was sat at the opposite end of the table from his wife, and Ren smiled at the way he listened attentively and interacted with each of his children, as well as Harry and Hermione. He was a genuine and caring individual, that much was clear to anyone.

Ren sat back as she chewed on a crispy roast potato and took in the rest of the party. There were sixteen of them squished together around the long wooden table, seventeen if you included Teddy in his highchair sat at the corner of the table between Molly and Tonks. The orange haired Metamorphmagus sat on the other side of Remus, two seats down from Ren.

On Molly's other side, opposite Tonks and Remus, sat the eldest of the Weasley offspring, Bill, and his wife Fleur. Despite the scars on his face (which Harry had explained in a letter were from a Fenrir Greyback attack) Bill was still effortlessly cool. From his handsome face, long ponytail and dragon tooth earring, Bill oozed a fierce edginess which reminded Ren (though she would _never_ have admitted it) of a young Sirius. _'Let's not go there,'_ Ren thought to herself as she took a deep swig of her wine.

Fleur was, to be blunt, the most infuriatingly beautiful person that Ren had ever seen. Harry's letter had also mentioned that Fleur was a quarter Veela, however this warning did nothing to quell Ren's unintentional comparisons between her unruly brown curls and age lined face to Fleur's shimmering main of silver hair and unblemished skin. Not that Ren held it against the girl. When the women had been introduced, Fleur had given Ren a dazzling smile and said, in a hypnotic French lilt, how nice it was to meet Harry's beautiful Godmother. This had reminded Ren that for a thirty-eight-year-old with no Veela blood heritage she was still doing just fine.

Next to Fleur, opposite Ren herself, sat Sirius. Back at Grimmauld Place when the hair fiasco had ceased Sirius and Ren, who by the end of it had been lying on top of one another on the floor, had quickly scrambled away from one another, exchanged a quick, formal word of greeting, and had continued to keep a respectable distance between them ever since. That was, however, until they had unintentionally ended up sat opposite one another.

There was nothing quite like being forced into the direct line of vision of the ex you were trying desperately to avoid because you had gone from having no contact for nearly two decades to _accidentally_ having sex on the first unsupervised meeting together. Despite having accepted sleeping with Sirius as a… minor bump in the road and agreeing to simply _move on_ , Ren was finding that it was very much easier said than done, and from the way he was looking in any other direction then hers, Ren guessed that Sirius was very much on the same wave-length.

She chanced a glance in his direction and regretted it instantly. Visions of Sirius pounding into her, asking her if she was going to come for him in a low growl, flashed before her eyes. She couldn't help it. Was Sirius having the same problem whenever he looked at her? With a shake of her head Ren downed the remainder of her wine. _'Moving on,'_ She hurriedly thought to herself.

Besides Sirius sat another Weasley brother, Percy. With his upright manner and crisp, pointed voice, Ren found Percy rather intense. She very much got the impression he was an 'all work no play' kind of guy, but the fact that he was at the Burrow with his family meant that her suspicion couldn't be entirely true. On Percy's right sat Ginny Weasley. Now Ren had been very excited to meet this particular redhead, and she had taken an instant shine to the girl. Ginny was charming and vivacious, and the way she interacted with Harry made Ren's heart melt. In a strange way the young couple mirrored Lily and James, not only in the aspect of looks. But it was Ginny who reminded Ren of James and Harry of his mother, Lily.

Next to Ginny was Fred, one of the twins. Ren was used to twins, they were very common in her family, but she found that she was absolutely floored by the similarities between the Weasley twins and her favourite cousins, twins Lennie and Dexter. They were just as funny and charismatic. When Harry had introduced Ren to the twins their eyes had widened in a mischievous delight and they had fixed Sirius, who had been stood a few paces away preparing drinks for himself and Arthur, with matching impish grins. Sirius had quickly grabbed the beers and bolted out of the kitchen. Ren didn't dare ask the reason why. Beside Fred sat Ron, who had Arthur, at the head of the table, on his right and Hermione opposite him.

On Hermione's right was Charlie, a brawny, freckle covered man who Ren discovered was on leave from his job at a Romanian Dragon Reserve. This had sparked an instant companionship between her and Charlie. Before dinner had been served, they had spent most of their time comparing their experiences tending to dragons, Charlie being immensely impressed by the fact she had spent years working with Swedish Shortsnouts. Next to Charlie sat George, who was identical to Fred down to the last freckle (minus the missing ear, that was) and on George's right was Harry, who was on Ren's left.

Yes, it was a tight squeeze but Ren found that it was a very effective way of getting to know one another.

"So how was your birthday, Fleur?" Remus was asking the beautiful blonde sat opposite him. "Arthur said you went back to France for the weekend?"

"Oui it was lovely, Remus! We went for an intimate dinner wiz' my parents and zen' out for drinks." Fleur told the Werewolf.

"When was your birthday?" Ren asked politely.

"Last week," Fleur told her with a smile.

"Oh well happy birthday for last week." Ren said, returning the grin. Fleur managed to thank her just before Mrs Weasley spoke.

"I don't think we have any more birthdays now until yours, Harry dear. Is that right?" She asked the boy, who was just swallowing a mouthful of potato.

"No," Sirius suddenly said, just as Harry had finished and opened his mouth to speak. Fifteen curious sets of eyes all focused their attention on Sirius. The man in question, however, seemed unfazed. He took a long swig of his beer before deciding to enlighten them. Glancing around the table he simply said "Ren's is next." Before shrugging casually and beginning to cut up a piece of meat on his plate.

All eyes now swung to Ren, and she felt herself flush as she stared at the man opposite her. Ren didn't know whether it was the fact that he remembered her birthday that shocked her or that he had announced it quite casually in front of everyone. Ren supposed that she couldn't be too surprised. After all she also remembered Sirius' birthday. It was the 3rd of November, 1959. He would be forty this year…

"When's your birthday Ren?" Harry suddenly asked, and Ren had to stop herself from jumping slightly as she came back down to Earth with a thump. She opened her mouth to reply but once again Sirius got there first.

"June the 1st." He said, not looking up from his plate, which was probably a good thing as Ren was now narrowing her eyes at him. What was he playing at?

"Oh, so just a few weeks away!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed, and Ren tore her eyes away from the raven-haired man to look at her instead.

"Yeah, not long. I don't usually like to make a big deal about it but my parents are insisting we throw a party at the family pub. It makes me feel like a reluctant teenager again." Ren said with a chuckle. That was putting it lightly. While she had lived in Sweden Ren had never bothered acknowledging her birthday. Sometimes her parents and siblings would come and stay with her but it would always be a low-key affair. Since the war had ended and Ren had decided to stay in England her Mother, Violet, was insisting on making up for nearly two decades worth of uncelebrated birthdays.

"Is that at the Dozing Dragon?" Remus questioned. "Your parents still run it?"

"They retired a few years ago. My brother and his wife took over." Ren explained. Remus let out a small laugh.

"Ollie? That's crazy. I remember Ollie as a mischievous twelve-year-old who would beat Sirius and James at card games and now he's married and running a pub. Merlin, I remember when he wasn't even allowed behind the bar." The sandy-haired man reminisced. Ren smiled, albeit stiffly.

"Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?" She reflected softly, before realising that the tables attention was still on her. "Anyway," She cleared her throat as she sat up straight. "You're all welcome to come along if you like." Ren extended the invitation with a warm smile. "Although it may be quite a raucous affair. A lot of my family are coming and they know how to party."

Laughter rippled through the group at her words, and Ren found her eyes sliding back to Sirius. A small smile played on his lips but his eyes, which were fixed on the table, seemed to be lost. Lost in memories, perhaps? Ren wondered if he was recalling the time which he had spent with her family all those years ago, and if he would dare to face them again.

* * *

Sirius exhaled as he relaxed into the wooden garden chair on the Burrow's patio. It was approaching eight thirty in the evening. Dinner had finished up an hour or so ago and the guests were now pottering around doing their own thing as Molly finished making sure the kitchen was tidy. The cosy living room was alive with chatter that Sirius could still hear, albeit rather muffled, from outside.

He had excused himself from the house in order to get some air, not quite sure why he was beginning to feel overwhelmed. _'Well that's a lie,'_ Sirius thought to himself. _'You know why.'_

Sirius had braced himself for Ren's presence that afternoon and had thought he was coping rather well, even with the bizarre way in which he had greeted her by helping to yank her free from Teddy's ridiculously strong grip. He was managing to deal with the questioning looks other members of the family had been giving him (namely the twins) and had even spoke about her birthday at the dinner table (although from the looks Ren had given him, she had clearly been both surprised by and suspicious of him doing so).

However, what was niggling at Sirius was the invite to her birthday celebration and the idea of seeing her family again. There had been a point in time in which Sirius had cared very deeply for the Gallaghers, and the family had made it clear that they felt the same about him. Next to the Potters they were the only family that had welcomed him with open arms.

But then everything had changed, and they had likely spent the past eighteen years loathing him for what he had supposedly done. The betrayal and the murders he had committed, and the heartbreak he had made Ren live with for most of her life.

Despite his innocence being proved Ren herself had admitted she had at first found it hard to let go of her hatred. Did Sirius really want to put himself in the position of potentially being judged and having to defend himself to the Gallaghers, just because Ren had invited him to her birthday celebration?

The kitchen back door suddenly squeaked open, allowing the subdued chatter and laughter from within to filter outside loudly, and Sirius turned to see Remus peeping out. Once he spotted Sirius he emerged from the house and closed the door again behind him, successfully quelling the noise slightly once more.

"There you are," Remus said as he joined him, pulling up his own chair and taking a seat.

"Here I am." Sirius drawled.

"You okay?" The Werewolf asked, and Sirius' brow creased in what he hoped was a confused manner.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be okay?" He questioned casually, to which Remus quirked a fair eyebrow.

"Do you really want me to list the potential reasons you may not be okay?" At his words Sirius let out a huff and dropped the act. He turned away from Remus and fixed his gaze on the masses of untamed land he could still make out in the fading evening light. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you and Ren probably had sex on Wednesday, didn't you?" As Remus spoke Sirius tensed up and whipped back around to face him.

"Fucking hell, is it that obvious?!" He demanded, unable to help himself. Remus chuckled.

"Probably not to the others. But you have to remember I know you better than anyone, and there was a time where I was Ren's best friend. You're both easier to read then you realise." He said.

"Wonderful," Sirius muttered.

"So is that what's bothering you? It's even more awkward then it was before because you had sex?"

"No that's not it. Don't get me wrong, it's more awkward, but we agreed to just move on and be there for Harry." Sirius told his friend, who nodded contemplatively.

"So?" He prompted.

"The idea of seeing Ren's family again puts the fear of Merlin into me, okay?" Sirius admitted brashly, and Remus nodded in understanding but remained silent. "Seeing Ren again for the first time was… it was a nightmare. It was horrible. But it's over with, we did it and agreed to move on. I just hate that there's loads more painful moments that follow after it. The memories are one thing, but seeing her family again after what I put her through would be brutal." Sirius elaborated, rubbing his brow. Remus watched him for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Padfoot man, look at it this way, if you truly want to be there for Harry you can't let that fear get in the way of it." He said.

"I was being there for Harry just fine before Ren came back into his life." Sirius muttered petulantly as he looked at his feet.

"You're right, but whether you like it or not she's now back. Going to Ren's birthday means you do risk that judgement, as you said, but no matter how many years have passed we both know that Ren wouldn't let her family come down on you. She wouldn't put you in that position on purpose."

"You think so? After everything she went through because of me?" Sirius couldn't help but ask, almost bitterly.

"Sirius, stop. Despite the time that's passed we're both fully aware that Ren isn't the type of person to do that. Give her that much credit. If she can look past everything that's happened then she'll be able to make her family do the same… with the exception of Aunty Brenda, maybe."

Sirius let out a small huff of amusement. Aunty Brenda was Ren's great aunt. An abrupt, unforgiving Welsh woman, she was the textbook definition of the phrase 'ball buster'.

He supposed Remus was right. While Aunty Brenda would no doubt make him sweat, Ren surely wouldn't let him walk straight into a warzone with her family. Despite still bricking it internally, Sirius realised he was looking at the situation too negatively.

"Thanks Moony," He eventually said, a small smile playing on his lips.

"No problem, you know I'm all too happy to help you to see sense." Remus joked.

"Merlin, I could have done with you on Wednesday night then." Sirius chuckled with a shake of his head, to which Remus remained silent. When Sirius eventually turned to him, he could read the question in Remus' eyes perfectly. "It was better than I ever remember it being, which is saying something." Sirius told him, his voice quiet as if he didn't really want to admit it to himself let alone someone else.

"So why don't you-" Remus started but Sirius cut him off.

"Because, Remus, that's the complete opposite of agreeing to move on!" He snapped, unable to help himself. When he saw Remus staring at him with wide, amber eyes Sirius sighed and apologised. "Sorry Moony, I just… never mind." He looked down and found his fists clenched. He forced himself to relax. "Now I'm going to go and pinch a large glass of Arthur's Firewhisky then go home to bed."

And with that Sirius rose and trudged back to the house, his body pulsing uncomfortably with energy. He didn't want to settle down with Ren again, why didn't Remus understand that? All Sirius wanted was his heart to stop aching painfully whenever Ren was mentioned. Was that too much to ask for?

 **I've updated! It's a Christmas miracle!**

 **Hi guys, I'm so sorry for the delay with updating. I've just completed a semester studying at a university in Australia and the work load was insane! Turns out you get a shit load more assignments at Australian unis then you do at British ones. It was pure stress so hats off to all you Aussies for coping with that for three years, haha.**

 **I haven't forgot about this story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.** **Sorry for any errors, grammar all that shit. I'm only human.** **In the new year I'll try my best to update more (key word there being _try,_ making no promises). Thank you all for the support, and please continue to follow, fave and _REVIEW_ LETTING ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. Every review is motivation to get my arse into gear and write. **

**So happy holidays and enjoy the festitivties, but stay safe and don't forget to check on your loved ones. This time of year can be very hard for some people and letting someone know you're there for them can make all the difference.**

 **All my love  
Eve x**

 **P.S. PLEASE REVIEW!**


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